Liverpool earned a 1-0 victory over Sunderland in the Premier League having had 23 shots on goal throughout the game.
Steve Nicol admitted he continues to be concerned by the form of Mo Salah despite Liverpool’s victory over Sunderland.
The Reds secured a 1-0 triumph to become the first Premier League team to win at the Stadium of Light this season. Virgil van Dijk’s second-half header delivered Arne Slot’s side all three points.
Liverpool were fully deserving of their victory. In total, they had 23 shots, with Florian Wirtz hitting the post in the first half while Hugo Ekitike and Salah failed to hit the target in the second period.
Luckily, the Reds’ lack of cutting edge did not cost them. Salah whipped in the corner that engineered Van Dijk’s match-winner but the winger has not scored a Premier League goal since 1 November - albeit missing a period as he represented Egypt at the African Cup of Nations.
But Nicol is worried that Salah is not showing any signs of getting back to his former self, while the former Liverpool full-back felt that Cody Gakpo also ‘flattered to deceive’ against Sunderland.
Speaking on ESPN, Nicol said: “It's a win from being one goal up and having to defend properly, something Liverpool haven't done for the majority of the season. It's a good performance. In the first half, there were good passages of play with one and two-touch football. But, unfortunately, in the final third, they are just missing something.
“Ekitike never got any sort of sniff in and around the penalty box because he's the guy we went on the end of things. Salah and Gakpo flattered to deceive, pretty much, particularly going forward. They deserved to win the game, plenty of shots, not enough goals, a clean sheet and it's three points.
“He [Salah] is doing nothing that encourages you to think he's going to get back to the guy who was scoring goals for fun. There is nothing about his play. There is actually nothing about his demeanour. He had a shot that just went wide but it was never going in. The look on his face, his smile, it wasn't a smile of someone who has scored 400 goals then misses a chance. It was a kind of a 'Am I ever going to score again' kind of look.”
Frank Leboeuf, part of France’s 1998 World Cup-winning side, added: “In the past, you want to criticise him and then suddenly he scores goal after goal and you go: ‘What a player’. But at some point, even when ht was scoring goals, you could have seen some clumsiness.
“But this season, it’s like the clumsiness took [over] from the efficiency he normally has. That is insane for me because he came from someone exceptional to really average. I’ve barely seen that from a player who normally gives you a bit of security in terms of efficiency and skill. It’s worrying me and he doesn’t deserve that. Where is his talent because it has disappeared.”
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