“Hasn’t been at his best” – Steve McManaman suggests one Liverpool ace has been faltering lately | OneFootball

Following Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Brentford on Saturday, Steve McManaman has aired concerns over one Reds player who ‘hasn’t been at his best’ in recent games, an apparent downturn which he claims has been ‘glossed over’.

For just the fourth time in the Premier League this season (but the second time in a week), Mo Salah ended a match without registering a goal or assist for Arne Slot’s side, and the prolific Egyptian has now gone three games in all competitions without a goal contribution to his name (Transfermarkt).

That represents a drought by his exceptional standards, but with 21 goals and 17 assists to his name in the current campaign, and 232 goals in total for the club, he has more than enough credit in the bank for fans to keep the panic button at a safe distance just yet.

McManaman raises concerns over Salah’s form

Nonetheless, McManaman suggested after the dramatic win at Brentford that Salah’s blistering form has ground to a halt, adding that it’s somewhat gone under the radar due to the heroics of Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez over the past week.

Speaking on Premier League Goal Rush on Saturday evening, the ex-Liverpool winger said: “It’s important that Liverpool players stepped up today because Mo Salah hasn’t been at his best in the last three or four games, but it didn’t matter because it’s glossed over because another centre-forward came on today and scored.”

(Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Salah was subdued v Brentford but no need to worry just yet

It speaks volumes for what we’ve come to expect from Salah that three consecutive games without scoring seemingly constitutes a personal crisis for the Egyptian King.

Admittedly the 32-year-old was subdued for the most part on Saturday, aside from one shot on target and another effort late on which sailed wide. As per Sofascore, he contested only two duels (losing one), had a lowly pass completion rate of 68% and lost the ball 15 times (second-most of any Liverpool player).

We agree with McManaman in that the recent downturn in the output of our number 11 would probably be under more scrutiny if it weren’t for the interventions of Jota against Nottingham Forest and Nunez against Brentford, but it’s definitely too early to be genuinely concerned over his form.

How often have we watched matches where it felt as though Salah was on the periphery, only for him to then come up with a clutch moment to earn crucial points for the Reds?

A third consecutive goalless game will only spur him on even more to set that right against Lille on Tuesday night (if he’s selected, given that we’re all but mathematically assured a last 16 place in the Champions League) and/or Ipswich next weekend.

We doubt that the Egyptian King will be kept off the scoresheet for much longer!