Sky Sports pundit Charlie Nicholas has blasted Liverpool forwards Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino for their performances against Aston Villa last week, claiming Sadio Mane is ‘carrying’ the team.
Manager Jurgen Klopp will certainly need more from the aforementioned duo against Manchester City on Sunday, a game which Nicholas feels the Reds will draw 2-2 at Anfield.
“This is the game of games,” he wrote on the Sky Sports website. “Man City’s weaknesses in defence will add to the game – you can only see goals in this one. Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino were way off it last week, with Sadio Mane carrying the front three and grabbing the match-winner at the death.
“Pep will look at the pace of Mane and the accusations of diving, but I cannot see how these players will not be in a position to say there are goals here. Sit back and enjoy the ride – it could go either way, it could be a 5-4 or a 1-0, but I am sitting on the fence until I see the starting teams.”
OPINION
Nicholas is right to say that Salah and Firmino weren’t at their best last weekend. It was a relatively poor performance from Liverpool all round, and it was certainly Mane who made the difference late on at Villa Park, scoring and grabbing an assist in the 2-1 win. The statistics demonstrate that neither Salah nor Firmino performed particularly well. As per WhoScored.com, the Egyptian had four shots, but only one of them was on target, while he had three unsuccessful touches and was dispossessed once. Firmino was slightly better. He had two off target shots, but did produce four key passes. However, there’s no doubt that it was Mane who was the star last time out. All three are going to have to play well if the Reds are going to defeat City on Sunday, though, while the team’s defence is going to have to perform better than it has been, as well. You can see why Nicholas has gone for a draw but, at Anfield, you get the feeling Klopp’s team might just edge it.
