Jurgen Klopp’s final away game as Liverpool manager finished in a 3-3 draw at Aston Villa.
In one of the most frantic and entertaining games of the Premier League season, Liverpool shot themselves in the foot towards the end and didn’t punish their error-prone opponents.
Inside the first few minutes, Mohamed Salah and Harvey Elliott combined well on the right channel before a simple ball across the box deflected off Pau Torres and ended up in the back of the net when Emiliano Martinez managed to guide it in his own goal.
It was a horror start by Champions League-chasing Villa and Liverpool just couldn’t believe their luck.
You could sense the nerves inside the stadium, the Reds were causing problems, especially Salah with Lucas Digne, before Youri Tielemans levelled the scores and the away side then went into the break with a lead again.
The second half was as chaotic with Liverpool scoring from a set-piece inside the first few minutes, before Aston Villa mounted a stunning comeback with five minutes left through a Jhon Duran brace.
It was a bright start by Liverpool, but was that down to Martinez’s horror mistake? Steve Nicol highlighted how it was a ‘typical’ performance from someone like Salah, as he told ESPN.
The legendary defender stated that it’s ‘very difficult’ to speak in positive terms about the 31-year-old because he has been like this for a while now.
From challenging all four trophies to being out of three of them within a space of a few weeks, it has been a horror ending for the team.
Salah’s numbers might be incredible – he has 18 Premier League goals and 10 assists this term – but according to some, he is still ‘invisible’ in games.
Mohamed Salah’s performance for Liverpool at Aston Villa
“Kind of typical of his recent performances,” said Nicol about Salah’s display. “No, (it’s not a compliment). He was pretty invisible
“It’s just unfortunate that right now we are looking at him in a light that, considering how great for how long he’s been, maybe it’s a little unfair. It kind of goes along with the rhetoric of the end of the season that has been really poor from Liverpool.
“So, it’s very difficult to be positive, particularly on Salah because he hasn’t done anything recently to help Liverpool. But we shouldn’t really forget how great he has been over such a long period of time.”
Will Mohamed Salah stay at Liverpool?
This was Klopp’s final away day and he will say his goodbyes to the fans on Sunday when Liverpool host Wolves at Anfield.
But could it also be Salah’s final game as a Red? His contract runs until 2025, so from that perspective, the powers that be need to make a call.
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Either get Salah to sign a new contract or sell him to get the most they can from him given his age.
There has been strong interest from Saudi Arabia, but you can’t guarantee that they will put money down for him – and they might just wait until he becomes a free transfer.
From the perspective of the incoming manager Arne Slot, he will be hoping Salah stays because he will need him more than anyone else in that team.
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