Irreplaceable Salah has now scored or assisted half of Liverpool's Pemier League goals this season

Stefan Bienkowski

Updated: 16 Oct 2021 14:28 BST
3 min read

Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah — © ProShots

If there was any concern over Mohamed Salah feeling a little jaded after the international break, such fears were put to bed after just nine minutes against Watford on Saturday.

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After turning Danny Rose and snatching a through ball, the Egypt international then curled an outstanding outside of the boot cross into the box, where Sadio Mane graciously tapped it into the back of the net.

However, that wasn’t the end of Salah’s magic for the afternoon. After helping Mane to a goal and watching his side bag another two for good measure, Salah then latched on to a pass in the Watford box on the 54th minute and jinked by three players before cutting back on to his left foot and tucking the ball into the far corner.

It was, unquestionably, a move that only a handful of players across the world would be capable of doing. And, perhaps even more impressively, Salah made it look exceptionally easy.

STOP THAT, MO SALAH! 🇪🇬👑

The footwork is magical, the finish is sublime.

He had the Watford defence on strings! 😱 pic.twitter.com/tBWPWWOxeX
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) October 16, 2021

Liverpool’s reliance on salah

Salah’s goal and assist on Saturday put the forward on no less than seven goals and four assists from his first eight league games of the season.

Not only is that an incredible return for the Liverpool player, but it also goes some way to highlighting just how reliant Jurgen Klopp is on the forward to keep his team ticking along.

Indeed, Salah’s goals and assists in the Premier League account for 50 percent of the team’s total in the English top flight. Which goes some way to explaining why Salah is just so important to this team.

Sure, Liverpool would in theory have another striker playing in Salah’s place if he wasn’t leading the line as he does now but as the forward showed on Saturday, there are some assists and goals that only he can score.

With a contract that is set to expire in 2023, Liverpool would do well to throw whatever they can at the forward to ensure he’s going nowhere for the foreseeable future.