An injury scare was the only way to stop Mohamed Salah on Wednesday night.
The Liverpool forward was at his devastating best during the 3-0 Champions League victory over Manchester City at Anfield, scoring the opening goal and setting up Sadio Mane with a brilliant cross for the third goal of the night.
Salah left Aymeric Laporte in a daze with his trickery and direct running, and the City defender will have been relieved to see his opponent exit the game just after half-time. The Egyptian was taken off as a precaution, and although the injury is not thought to be serious, he may be rested for Saturday’s trip to Goodison Park to face Everton.
The out-of-form Toffees will hope Salah misses the encounter, as they seek to win their first Merseyside derby in the Premier League since 2010. Because, if Salah plays, chances are that he will score. In 42 games for Liverpool, Salah has 38 goals and he leads the race to win the Golden Boot with 29 Premier League goals.
At the moment – injury aside – Salah is unstoppable. Defenders are aware that he wants to cut inside from the right and onto his favoured left-foot, but appear powerless to stop him, even when they double-up on him. Manchester United prevented him from scoring at Old Trafford recently, but deployed a back-six to do so and City were never going to take that approach.
John Arne Riise, the former Liverpool full-back, was asked on Twitter how would he go about stopping Salah on the pitch.
“Faked an injury and ruled me out of the game,” Riise joked, but he may have a point because damage limitation appears to be the only way to go about dealing with Salah.
Taking yourself out of the firing line might not be the worst idea.
Faked an injury and ruled me out of the game https://t.co/yfTUEDMiW1
— John Arne Riise (@JARiiseOfficial) April 4, 2018
Welcome to English football Laporte.. please meet our Egyptian God, @22mosalah . Good luck
— John Arne Riise (@JARiiseOfficial) April 4, 2018
