Mohamed Salah was forced off against Crystal Palace, and it’s a gut-punch for Liverpool for a couple of reasons.
Obviously, it scuppers plans for Salah’s Liverpool farewell tour. If it is an injury that keeps him out for any significant time, we won’t get the run of final fixtures where fans can show their appreciation for a true club legend.
It’s even more of a kick in the teeth when you remember who is next up on the schedule for Liverpool. Next Sunday is supposed to be Salah’s final foray into a fixture he has dominated for almost a decade.
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Mohamed Salah could miss final crack at Man United after injury vs Crystal Palace
That is what makes the timing of Salah’s injury so cruel.
Manchester United are next up for Liverpool, and there is no fixture Salah has owned quite like that one.
Across his Liverpool career, Salah has scored 16 goals and added six assists in 18 games against United in all competitions. In the Premier League alone, he has 13 goals and six assists in the fixture.
Those numbers are ridiculous on their own, but the memories behind them are even bigger.
There was the hat-trick at Old Trafford in the 5-0 win in 2021, when Salah became the first visiting player in Premier League history to score three times at United’s home ground.
There were two more goals in the 4-0 at Anfield later that season.
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Then came the 7-0 in 2023, when Salah scored twice, assisted twice and became Liverpool’s all-time leading Premier League goalscorer in the process.
Even last season, when Liverpool won 3-0 at Old Trafford, Salah was there again. A goal and two assists, on a day when he openly admitted it could be his final appearance at that stadium as a Liverpool player.
Salah’s farewell tour was never going to be complete without one last go at United. He has tormented them for years, and this should have been the fixture where Liverpool fans could watch him write one more chapter against the opponent he has hurt more than almost anyone else.
Instead, there is now uncertainty.
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