Why Mohamed Salah’s return from injury is critical for Liverpool

Mohamed Salah suffered an injury while representing Egypt at the AFCON in January, which was a big blow for Liverpool and his country.

The Reds have been plagued by injuries to key players for much of this season, and Salah’s injury came at an important stage of the season.

The Egyptian has been a key player for the Reds, and his hot form was responsible for taking them back to the top of the Premier League table before he left for the AFCON.

Before the African international competition, Jurgen Klopp had jokingly admitted that he wished Egypt did not make progress beyond the group stages.

This is because he wanted to have the attacker back as soon as possible, but Salah was injured before the group stage even finished to hand Liverpool a problem.

The Reds demanded that he return to the club for treatment, which caused controversy because Egypt would have wanted him to stay with them and recover for the latter stages of the AFCON.

But Salah returned to Liverpool to recuperate and work hard to return and help Liverpool to win the Premier League.

The Egyptian’s absence was not felt much by Liverpool as the likes of Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota stepped up brilliantly to help the Reds stay at the top of the league standings and remain in contention to win the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup.

However, everyone knows what Salah brings to games for Liverpool, and the Reds are more lethal when he plays.

Fortunately, Liverpool fans watched the Egyptian King return to the bench for their tricky trip to Brentford in the Premier League, and he wasted no time making his presence known in that game.

Liverpool tickets holders have come to expect so much from the former Chelsea flop, and when he stepped on the pitch in the second half of that game against the Bees, he scored and provided an assist.

Even a half-fit Salah will deliver for Liverpool, and his performance in the second half of that game is a reason the attacker’s return will be pivotal in the Premier League title race this term.

Jota’s injury

One big reason Liverpool fans will celebrate the return of Salah is that Jota has suffered yet another injury, which happened in the same game that Salah marked his return to action.

The Portuguese attacker was in superb form when Salah was away, scoring five times and providing three assists to ensure the Reds did not miss their Egyptian star.

Jota filled in well on the right side of the Liverpool attack, even though he does not have the speed of Salah nor the ability to cut in with his left.

Now that Salah is back, everyone expects that role to become even more effective and for the Reds to get more goals there.

It remains unclear when Jota will be back, and losing the Portuguese star at this stage of the season is a big blow to Liverpool, however, the Reds will be more than confident that the return of Salah means they will not miss Jota too much.

The form of his life

Before Salah left for the AFCON, he had already scored 14 times and provided eight assists, with only Erling Haaland scoring more than him in the Premier League.

This was a reason Liverpool was in a comfortable spot when he left the club, and everyone knows how important he is to the Reds.

In consecutive seasons since he moved to Liverpool, Salah has scored double figures for the Reds in just the league alone.

This is why he remains one of their most prominent players since he returned to England and continues to defy the odds to deliver top performance despite already clocking 30.

Salah was the subject of transfer interest from Saudi Arabia last summer, which could have fetched Liverpool around $200m, but the Reds turned down the offer, and they are now reaping that reward.

Salah scored 19 goals from 38 league games last season, but this term, he already has 15 goals from just 19 league games.

The last time Salah was on a similar run of form was his first season at Liverpool, and he ended that campaign with 32 Premier League goals, a record that Erling Haaland broke last term.

Salah has been on one of his best form in the last few campaigns, and Liverpool will benefit from it to end this season well, which could mean finishing the campaign as the champions of England.

Final season motivation

As we noted earlier, Salah was the subject of transfer interest from Saudi Arabia in the summer, and we expect them to return at the end of this campaign.

The Egyptian has not addressed his future, and it is clear that he is happy to play for Liverpool and will continue doing that for the next few terms if he has a chance to do so.

However, as Jurgen Klopp prepares to leave at the end of this term, Salah could also exit the club, which will be extra motivation for him to deliver his best this term.

Liverpool’s new manager would be lucky to have Salah in his squad, but he could also decide he does not need the former Chelsea flop.

Whatever the case may be, Salah knows this could be his final term at Anfield, and that is enough reason for him to maintain his hot run of form and ensure he ends this term brilliantly.

The Egyptian’s return with that goal and assist shows injury has done nothing to affect Salah, and it is great news for Liverpool in this important stage of the season.

Some Liverpool players have already admitted they have extra motivation to do well for the club as a farewell to Klopp, and they could be working towards gifting Salah another Premier League title and other trophies.

His magic will complement their efforts towards ending this season on a good note, which means winning at least one trophy.

The challenge from Manchester City

Liverpool’s biggest obstacle to winning the Premier League this season is Manchester City, and Salah has to make a difference for the Reds.

Everyone knows City is the best club in the Premier League, and they have shown they can win the trophy no matter who is challenging them.

However, when Liverpool defeated City to win the league in the 2019/2020 term, Salah was an important contributor to their success as the Egyptian King scored 19 times and provided ten assists for teammates in the competition.

He is already on his way to even better those stats, and we expect him to make the contributions that will separate Liverpool from City at the end of the season.

Salah’s return to fitness will catapult Liverpool to new heights despite the frustrating injury crisis the Reds have suffered in the last few weeks.

But other Liverpool stars must also be on their best run of form before the Reds can end this season in fine fashion.