How Liverpool could have done with Mohamed Salah at the Emirates on Sunday.
The Reds managed to head to North London and win without Salah back in January. In fact, they’d won five out the six games the Egyptian has missed since New Year’s Day, drawing the other. But last weekend’s game proved a step too far.
Missing Mo and Darwin Nunez, Liverpool looked a little toothless against Arsenal, succumbing to a damaging 3-1 loss.
The game will have increased Reds’ supporters anxiety to see Salah back on the pitch as soon as possible. Thankfully, the 31-year-old shared on update on his Instagram stories last night that suggests it shouldn’t be too long now.
Sharing a series of photos seemingly at his home gym, Salah looks well enough as he stretches to touch both of his toes in a ‘splits’ type position.
The hamstring looks fine to us! With four days still to go before Liverpool take on Burnley on Saturday, hopefully this is a good sign.
Salah looking limber
Of course, we don’t know quite the status of Salah’s current fitness based of a couple of home gym shots. But this would bode well for Mo being involved in training this week.
Just as they did back in 2022, Liverpool largely allayed fears that their quadruple push would go off the rails without their No.11 in January.
On Sunday though, it all seemed to catch up to the Reds a little. Nunez’s absence also played a big part in that. Between them the pair have scored 29 goals this season, Jurgen Klopp was always going to miss that at the Emirates.
With all due respect, this weekend’s clash with Burnley doesn’t look quite as taxing. If Mo isn’t ready, then there’s no real need to rush him back for this one.
But having said that, Liverpool really need to bounce back quickly. It’s a frustration that they have to wait a full week before banishing the ghosts of the Arsenal game. They’ll hopefully be raring to go at Anfield.
With the Clarets struggling in the relegation zone, you’d expect that Liverpool will have too much for them either way. If Mo is fit enough for at least a place in the squad though, it’ll give the Reds an extra little boost.
While he’s been away, Salah hasn’t taken a hit in his battle with Erling Haaland for the Premier League’s Golden Boot. With Haaland injured for the large part himself, the pair are still locked on 14 goals apiece at the top of the charts. Knowing Mo, he’ll be keen to get out and add to that as soon as possible. Burnley is potentially a good chance to do that.
Let’s wait for some more positive updates as the week of training progresses.
