OPINION
Normally, scoring 21 goals in 43 games would be quite a decent tally for a player in the Premier League. Well, if you are Liverpool’s Mo Salah, that is not quite the case.
Scoring that many goals is decent by anyone’s standards, but seeing as he managed to muster up an astounding 44 strikes in 52 games for the Reds last season, that is nowhere near the impact he is expected to make.
Obviously replicating that type of figure is an incredibly tough task, but this season, that is what Salah has been compared to – as if scoring 18 Premier League goals was not enough.
Time and time again this term, the 26-year-old has been criticised for being off the boil and not making enough of an impact. People were starting to doubt him and his ability, with some questioning whether last season was just a one-off.
However, in the 3-1 win over Southampton on Friday, Salah proved just how much of a game changer he can be. Liverpool were clutching onto loose ends before he popped up in the 80th minute to slam home an excellent strike. If anything, the Reds looked like a lost cause at 1-1 – their hopes of keeping their Premier League dream alive were hanging by a thread.
Many Liverpool fans will no doubt be hoping and praying that Salah can continue to produce this sort of game changing impact for the rest of the season. So far, they are under the impression that he has not unleashed his best form yet.
This goal would have definitely boosted the mainstay’s confidence hugely. There were points this season were you would not have counted on him scoring the match winner, but that has certainly changed after Friday night.
It looks like Salah is back to his old self again, and just in time for the title run-in.
