August 15, (THEWILL) – Fans of Liverpool’s mercurial defender Virgil van Dijk were pleased to see him back in action for the Reds after his long injury layoff that gave them defensive problems in his absence. The Dutchman’s commanding presence at the back yielded immediate dividends in the opening day 3-0 win over Norwich but Mohamed Salah was the hero.
The men from Anfield may have failed in the defense of their title and watched as Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City romped all the way to an extended trophy as “Champions-elect” wondering how different things could have been with van Dijk on the squad but they began this season with a statement victory.
Their Egyptian striker Mohamed Salah simply picked up where he left off last term, gaining from the time the team spent together in pre-season to get into shape for the 2021/2022 campaign. He was involved in all three goals, assisting in both halves and wrapping it up with one of his.
For the first, the Egyptian teed up Diogo Jota to open the scoring in the 26th minute. He repeated the gesture for another teammate, Roberto Firmino this time, to double their lead five minutes after the hour mark, before netting himself nine minutes later.
His own goal was the most telling of what he brings to the Liverpool advance line as it was the fifth time in five consecutive seasons at Anfield that Salah has found the net on the opening game, scoring in all the five seasons he has been at Liverpool. It makes him the first player in the competition’s history to score on five consecutive opening weekends ever.
There was also another record on the other side of the scale because Norwich’s loss took their losing streak to 11 successive top-flight games. They become the second club with the longest losing streak, behind Sunderland in the EPL.
As THEWILL reported, Liverpool concentrated much attention to securing the long-term security of their best and Virgil van Dijk joined Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Fabinho in penning improved long-term deals at Anfield. They will now make getting a similar commitment for Salah a top priority as the Egyptian enters the final two years of his contract.
Klopp knows the quality of the pacy forward and just as he insisted that Salah will be with teammates for pre-season than honour the invitation of the Egyptian FA to allow Salah represent the country at the Olympics, he will do all he can to keep him at Liverpool for the foreseeable future with a long-term contract.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
