In the latest Blood Red column, Ian Doyle looks at the fortunes of Erling Haaland, Mohamed Salah and Alexander Isak this season
Erling Haaland and Mohamed Salah will renew rivalries at the Etihad on Sunday when Man City host Liverpool
Erling Haaland and Mohamed Salah will renew rivalries at the Etihad on Sunday when Man City host Liverpool
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Last season's top three Premier League goalscorers descend upon the Etihad on Sunday afternoon. And Liverpool will hope the outcome does not reflect the respective fortunes of the trio this season.
Goals are normally guaranteed when the Reds take on Manchester City, with only one scoreless stalemate between the teams in their last 39 games - and even then it required a missed penalty late on at Anfield from visiting midfielder Riyad Mahrez.
There's little to suggest anything different this weekend, not least given only Manchester United have seen more goals in their opening 10 games than the 32 that have been scored when Liverpool have played. Indeed, only City have plundered more - 20 - than the 18 the Reds have managed.
Injury problems last season limited City striker Erling Haaland to just the 22 league goals, behind both Alexander Isak on 23 and runaway leading scorer Mohamed Salah with 29.
This season, though, has seen Haaland revert to the norm with 18 goals in all competitions already and 13 in the top-flight alone - more than the entire squad of fourth-placed Sunderland combined.
Matters, though, haven't been so straightforward for those who finished above him last term. Salah has five goals in 15 games overall while Isak's strike in the League Cup win over Southampton remains his only goal in 429 minutes over eight appearances for Liverpool since arriving for a British record £125million from Newcastle United during the summer.
The fitness and adaptation issues of the Sweden international are well documented. Nevertheless, it is still mildly alarming he has gone more than six months since last scoring in the Premier League.
Isak will most likely be on the bench on Sunday having only returned to training on Friday after missing more than a fortnight with a groin problem suffered at Eintracht Frankfurt.
It was the first time the striker had started two high-intensity games inside four days for Liverpool with his fitness issues betraying the lack of pre-season the Reds anticipated could prove an issue during the opening months of his Anfield career.
There is, however, confidence Salah may have turned a corner after an underwhelming - at least by his standards - opening few months, with goals against Brentford and Aston Villa - the latter his 250th for the club - moving him on to four in 10 Premier League games.
In fairness, only five players have scored more in that time, while in 2022/23 Salah netted only three in his first 11. Indeed, his current tally is only one behind what he had netted at the equivalent point of the 2018/19 and 2019/20 seasons.
City are one of Salah's favourite opponents with 13 goals in 22 appearances, with five strikes coming at the Etihad. And the extra appetite for defensive work in recent games sparked by a return to goalscoring form has not passed unchecked.
"I have noticed this and it's something that has helped the team a lot," says Slot. "The main focus is on players who score a lot of goals and Mo is goalscoring, goalscoring, goalscoring.
"But it is not the first time. I think the last time we played Man City away, Pep Guardiola said something about that.
"It's very important for us to have Mo scoring goals and for Mo to have how he played against City last season where he also scored a goal and assisted and helped the team out a lot in his defensive work. That is also what he did in the week."
Stopping Haaland, and the service to the Norwegian, will go a long way towards nullifying City's threat. While Liverpool have shared their Premier League goals around eight players, City have been reliant on Haaland. Next in line for Guardiola's side in this season's top-flight scoring charts? Own goals with two.
Liverpool have had enough defensive issues this season without starting to put the ball into their own net. But after a second successive clean sheet saw them become only the third team this season to stop Kylian Mbappe from scoring, the Reds will hope they can do likewise with Haaland, who has just three goals in eight outings against them.
It won't quite be a Haaland v Salah shoot-out on Sunday. But if there is a winner in that particular battle, it could well determine the destiny of the points - and whether Liverpool realistically remain title contenders.