Jamie O’Hara has told talkSPORT he believes Mohamed Salah is playing at the ‘peak of his powers’ after the Liverpool winger scored an outstanding goal against Manchester City.
Salah stunned O’Hara with his performance at Anfield on Sunday after toying with the Sky Blues to put Liverpool ahead. The 29-year-old had also worked magic to assist Sadio Mane earlier in the second-half, before equalisers from Phil Foden and Kevin de Bruyne.
The draw kept Liverpool above Manchester City in the Premier League table but fell behind Chelsea into second place. While Salah kept pace with Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy as the top-flight’s joint top-scorer with six goals after seven appearances.
O’Hara has been effusive with praise for Salah as Sunday’s showcase showed how good the Liverpool winger truly is. And the player-turned-pundit agrees with Jurgen Klopp’s verdict that he is one of the best around right now.
“He’s the best player in the world, for me. If you are looking at a player who is playing at the peak of his powers,” O’Hara said. “I can’t look at anyone and say they are doing better than Mo Salah. Not only is he doing it in the Premier League, which is the best league in the world, but he’s doing it in big games.
“That performance against Man City was outstanding. The individual brilliance, especially for his goal. He used his pace and skill for Mane’s goal, but his goal was outstanding. He used all his attributes in one moment. Strength, quick feet, pace, power, skill and then the finish with his weaker foot showed how good he was.”
Liverpool star Salah the closest the Premier League have to Messi, O’Hara claims
O’Hara doubled down on his belief that Salah is performing in big games by comparing the Liverpool star with Lionel Messi. The former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder does not feel the Egyptian is yet on the Argentine’s level, but comes closest.
“This is a big statement, I think he’s the closest thing to Lionel Messi we’ve seen, without being Lionel Messi. Since Messi’s prime, if you are looking at another player who has come close in terms of player like Messi, I would say Mo Salah.
He added: “I’m not saying he’s anywhere near Messi, because he’s on another planet. But when we watched Messi, he did things against world-class players and was making them look silly.”
Salah has scored nine goals in nine games across Liverpool’s unbeaten start to the season to justify O’Hara’s praise. He has also assisted three league goals, and is partly or wholly behind six of the Reds’ 15 points. Enough to fall down the table to 12th place.
While in the Champions League, Liverpool would sit level on points with Atletico Madrid in Group B. Making the Reds’ trip to the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium on October 19 an even bigger occasion, than a chance to solidify Salah’s reputation as the best around.
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