'You can tell' - Gabby Agbonlahor says Liverpool star is currently doing something like Lionel Messi

Gabby Agbonlahor has insisted that Mo Salah will recapture his best Liverpool form - but may need to do more defensively.

The winger has endured a difficult start to the 2025-26 season for the Reds. Having plundered 29 Premier League goals last season, Salah has found the back of the net only twice in seven games so far.

In last Saturday’s 2-1 loss against Chelsea, which was Liverpool’s third successive defeats in all competitions, Salah was poor throughout the contest. In the second half, he curled two good goalscoring opportunities over the bar, as well as flashing another wide.

And after Estevao Willian bagged a 96th-minute winner, Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella revealed that he exploited the space that Salah leaves behind him to cross for the goal.

Agbonlahor, speaking on talkSPORT, says Liverpool can no longer afford for Salah not to track back, having been given the luxury to have done so from head coach Arne Slot last season en route to winning the Premier League title.

But the former Aston Villa striker believes Salah is still showing some signs of his quality, having sent in a cross for Alexander Isak in the first half but the striker headed over the bar.

What’s been said

Agbonlahor said: “The defensive part is right (about the criticism towards Salah) because the number of times Cucurella is going forward and it's two-v-one on Conor Bradley and Salah sort of tries to press a little bit then just stops and relaxes like we have seen [Lionel] Messi do time and time again over his career.

“Liverpool can't afford to be a man down defensively. You can tell when Mo Salah is not at it because defenders are starting to [say]: 'Go on try and run me'. Cucurella and [Benoit] Badiashile were getting really tight to him and said: 'Go on try to run me on the outside' and whenever he did, they took the ball off him.

“Cucurella had him in his pocket the whole 96 minutes. But what options do Liverpool have naturally to replace Salah? Frimpong can play on the right of midfield but he's not been at it this season so you can see why he's stayed on in games and can get you that goal. It feels harsh ever criticising him.

“We're still early in the season. I'm sure Mo Salah is his biggest critic and knows he could have done better. Some of the chances he had at the weekend, cutting inside when Gakpo is making a run and Isak is not happy not getting a pass and Mo Salah is shooting a lot, but how many times has he scored cutting inside and bending it into the top corner? I'm sure he will come good. It's hard to criticise Mo Salah, It just doesn't feel right but Arne Slot has probably got to look at it and say: 'You've got to do your defensive responsibilities’.

“In the first half, with the outside of the boot and Isak puts it over the bar. If he scores that, you’re going: ‘Wow, Mo Salah’. He’s still got the levels of quality he has shown over his career.”