Liverpool have a chance to get their title bid back on track on Sunday as they welcome West Ham United to Anfield. Arne Slot’s side suffered a rare defeat at Fulham last time out, but remain well-placed to end the season as champions.
The match will be the Reds’ first since top scorer Mohamed Salah committed his future to the club, just a couple of months before his contract was due to expire. The next target for the club is convincing Virgil van Dijk to also put pen to paper on an extension.
Liverpool beat West Ham 5-0 back in December in what was the Hammers’ final home game under Julen Lopetegui. The London side have been a little less leaky at the back under current manager Graham Potter, but haven’t won away at Anfield since August 2015.
Unsurprisingly, Salah’s decision has taken plenty of headlines over the last couple of days. We’ve also seen some earlier comments about the Egyptian resurface.
We’ve also got the small matter of what Salah will be able to contribute in a Liverpool shirt now he’s confirmed as one of their players for the foreseeable future. Here are Mirror Football‘s latest lines from around Anfield.
Alan Shearer can see Mohamed Salah threatening his Premier League all-time scoring record. The England international retired in 2006 after scoring 260 times in the competition, and Salah is just 76 behind.
“I don’t suspect that my Premier League goalscoring record is on Mo Salah’s mind, but the record is going to go one day,” Shearer told Betfair. “Whoever it goes to, whether it’s Harry Kane, Mo Salah or Erling Haaland, I guess there’s so many ifs and buts. It will go one day and it might be Salah who does it, yeah.”
Shearer also suggested Salah and team-mate Van Dijk will have little trouble contributing next term despite their age, adding: “They’re both incredibly fit and have proven that this season, so they’ll go again. Salah will get his usual shed-load of goals and Van Dijk will be as solid as ever.”
Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville has seen some of his old Mohamed Salah comments resurface. Back in 2019, Neville suggested Salah had less than 12 months left at Anfield, only to be proven wrong and then some.
“Salah’s going to leave in the next 12 months, I can see it already,” the former England defender said. “Salah will leave, he will, I can absolutely guarantee it. I can see it, you can feel it, you can smell it, you know it.”
Neville also tipped United to win another league title before Liverpool. That was proved wrong within a few months, with Salah firing his team to league glory in the 2019-20 season.
Liverpool boss Arne Slot has hinted Conor Bradley could be Liverpool’s long-term option at right-back. Current first-choice right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold appears Real Madrid bound, but Bradley’s development means there might not be any need to dip into the transfer market.
“Conor, I think, has only had one or two injuries this season and was fit for most of the season before,” the Dutchman said. “Joe [Gomez] has a bit more of a history of injuries, but it’s also very difficult for a player like him (to stay fit) because he’s been in and out of the team more than he might want.
“To keep those players fit is always more difficult than the ones who play almost every game. I don’t look at Conor as a player who can only play 20 games a season because last season he was fit all the way through and this season he’s had two injuries. I think we can only judge Conor on his fitness if he is good enough, which I think he is, to become a regular starter for us.”
Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle in an unbeatable new deal that saves £192 and includes 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.
At Reach and across our entities we and our partners use information collected through cookies and other identifiers from your device to improve experience on our site, analyse how it is used and to show personalised advertising. You can opt out of the sale or sharing of your data, at any time clicking the “Do Not Sell or Share my Data” button at the bottom of the webpage. Please note that your preferences are browser specific. Use of our website and any of our services represents your acceptance of the use of cookies and consent to the practices described in our Privacy Notice and Cookie Notice.
