Liverpool’s Egyptian King boasts a career-best 16 goal contributions against the Spaniard’s all-conquering Man City side. Boasting 11 goals from 18 Reds appearances, City are the 31-year-old’s second-favourite opponents, with him only ever finding the back of the net more against Manchester United. He has also scored more against Guardiola than any other player in his managerial career.
Last season, Salah scored in all four meetings between Liverpool and City, while he boasts seven goals and three assists from his last nine clashes with the Reds’ fiercest title-rivals. Ever since he first moved to Anfield in the summer of 2017, he has always been the man for the big occasion. “The forwards for Liverpool are good. Those three upfront. They scare me, they’re dangerous. I mean it,” Guardiola was famously captured saying to his City assistants by Amazon Prime cameras in Manchester City’s All or Nothing documentary.
He was in the away dressing room at Goodison Park at the time, as his side ran out 3-1 winners over Everton in March 2018. Four days later they would be back on Merseyside for the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final clash with Liverpool.
“I have the feeling that Salah will play striker,” Guardiola said. “Salah will play as number nine and Firmino will move towards the wing. He comes here and Salah goes forward. Our wing-back can’t cover their wing-back.” Salah, in the midst of a record-breaking 44-goal maiden campaign on Merseyside, had already registered a goal and an assist against City two and a half months earlier at Anfield. Such efforts had helped the Reds run out 4-3 winners with Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino also on the scoresheet.
The attacking triumvirate would justify Guardiola’s fears as they tormented his side once more in the Champions League quarter-finals. Salah would register another goal and assist at Anfield, this time in a 3-0 win with Mane also scoring, before handing his side the lead at the Etihad after Roberto Firmino had cancelled out Gabriel Jesus’ early opener.
Since 2018, Salah has won every major honour with Liverpool. And, while both Mane and Firmino have now both moved on to Saudi Arabia and declined as they got older, he remains their deadliest forward, complimented by Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota, and Cody Gakpo, and continues to get better with age. Yet for all the goal contributions against City, Guardiola’s side have in turn become the side the Egyptian is left cursing most. Losing eight times to the Manchester club, no opponent has inflicted defeat on him more.
Guardiola’s side have also won every major honour on offer to them during the lifespan of Salah’s Anfield career, and will be looking to maintain that record at the FIFA Club World Cup next month. But while the Reds’ honours have all been singular, City boast five Premier League titles, two FA Cups, and four League Cups along with this year’s Champions League and European Super Cup wins.
Two of those title wins have been by a solitary point, with Salah coming within a whisker of glory both times. A John Stones goal-line clearance, which somehow squirmed through the Egyptian’s legs, at the Etihad in a 2-1 City win ultimately proved decisive in January 2018. Fast forward to the 2021/22 season and Salah thought he had scored the goal which would have delivered Liverpool the Premier League title after putting the Reds’ 2-1 up against Wolves in the 84th minute on the final day of the season. Alas, while City had trailed 2-0 at home to Aston Villa with 20 minutes to go, they had turned such a game on its head to lead 3-2 at the time of the forward’s goal.
When the stakes have been at their highest between Liverpool and Man City, honours have been decided by the smallest of margins. And on such occasions, history has not been kind to Salah despite his incredible individual record.
Pep Guardiola has always feared Mohamed Salah, and rightly so.
