The Athletic’s Liverpool correspondent Simon Hughes has compared forward Mohamed Salah to former striker Luis Suarez, per The Red Agenda podcast (February 26, 48:23).
What’s he said?
The Reds battled to a 3-2 win over West Ham United on Monday evening, extending their lead at the top of the Premier League table to 22 points.
Salah scored his side’s second goal, equalising after Issa Diop and Pablo Fornals had given David Moyes’ men a shock lead at Anfield.
And Hughes has subsequently compared the Egypt international with Barcelona's Suarez, who scored 82 goals in 133 games for the club between 2011 and 2014.
He said: “He's a fighter isn't he, Salah?
“I mean, there's elements last night when it wasn't going Liverpool's way throughout the whole of the game and it did remind me a little bit of Suarez where he was obviously, he wasn't getting frustrated, he was getting angry that Liverpool weren't winning and that was firing him up.”
He added: “He seems to be getting a bit nastier.”
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Exactly what’s needed
Salah is exactly the type of player that a club needs if they are to win the Premier League title.
The former Chelsea and Roma attacker has become one of the best forwards in world football since his move to Anfield, scoring a staggering 90 goals in 140 games for the club.
Both players, Suarez and Salah, subsequently have a goals-per-game ratio of 0.6, meaning that the comparison holds up.
Salah has 15 Premier League goals to his name this season and his ability to take games by the scruff of the neck will surely see the Reds take a few more points between now and the end of the season.
The main difference between him and Suarez, though, is that he has Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino alongside him in Jurgen Klopp’s team.
Mane has 13 goals and eight assists to his name this season, while Firmino has eight goals and seven assists.
The three combined have scored 33 goals this season. They will surely end the season with Premier League winners’ medals around their necks.