Arne Slot has suggested that Mohamed Salah and Liverpool could still extend their relationship beyond the end of this season after the Egyptian right-winger scored twice, created another goal and hit the bar on the Premier League leaders. 3-3 draw at Newcastle.
The league’s leading scorer for the past nine years in seven games and, following a brilliant second-half performance, the Liverpool manager was effusive in his praise for Salah.
“Every time Mo needs to score a goal,” said Slote, when he answered questions about the potential outcome of Hall’s complicated contract extension negotiations with the Anfield board. “We hope and we hope that this can continue for a long time. Outstanding in the second half, he did a lot of special things for us. No yeast before.
“It’s hard to predict the future, but Mo’s is in an incredibly good position because it gives him opportunities at the right time and he can do special things. He didn’t play his best game for the first time, but not many players did after that. He is a special player. As it is clinical. He leads by example and teaches so hard that it is not surprising that he does well.
Not that the visiting manager was entirely satisfied. “I have mixed feelings,” Slote said. We were excellent in the second half, but not so good in the first half. Perhaps the 3-3 game was worthy of the name. At first we had problems with the intensity and aggressiveness of the style. They forced us into too many early mistakes but in the second half it was more difficult for them to repeat the intensity of the first 45 minutes. It’s a tough game to go to Newcastle, they have so much quality.
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe appeared to be relieved by the side’s performance for a much better half when he later outclassed Alexander Isak, an inspirational forward in the centre, where the Sweden striker scored one goal and set up another for Antonio Gordon before Fabian Schär created a late equaliser. “Liverpool is the best team we have faced this season,” he said. “But it’s a mixed feeling, and you won’t be mistaken. It was Alex (Isak’s) best performance of the season. We need more of these.
“But tonight we were everything we wanted to be, the body language, the attitude, the attitude. We were more like ourselves. I thought Anthony (Gordon) was electric. But we need to consistently hit those standards.