One area of Mohamed Salah’s game deserves more praise after Newcastle victory

Mohamed Salah recorded another assist as Liverpool earned a late comeback victory over Newcastle United over the weekend.

A brilliant cameo off the bench from Darwin Nunez helped Jurgen Klopp’s side record one of their best comeback moments during the German manager’s time at the club so far.

It all looked to be falling apart in the 28th minute, as Virgil Van Dijk was sent off for a last-man tackle on Alexander Isak that seemed to be a contentious decision amongst pundits, ex-players and fans.

Prior to that, they had gone a goal down courtesy of former Everton forward Anthony Gordon after a calamitous moment from Trent Alexander-Arnold who completely failed to control Salah’s pass.

Gordon ran through and fired between Alisson’s legs for an early opener but the home side failed to captialise on their one-man advantage, which opened the door for Nunez’s late double.

It was Salah’s third goal contribution this season so far, after netting against Bournemouth and also assisting Luis Diaz against Chelsea in their season’s opening game.

Salah’s ball to Diaz was pinpoint, direct and perfectly executed and his weight of pass for Nunez’s winner demonstrated his underrated skill as a playmaker - he’s developed into an all-round forward, not just a goalscorer.

He netted 30 times last season but he also registered 16 assists - a tally only bettered by Kevin De Bruyne in the league and now, as a senior forward, he’s taken on the responsibility of creating for his fellow front three.

Where once he linked up almost telepathically with Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane, he’s now adapted to the style of Diaz, Nunez, Diogo Jota and Cody Gakpo and he has found a natural rapport with his new-look strike partners.

Last season also saw him rank joint-seventh for key passes and joint-first for through balls - he’s also making things happen and he exists as a double threat.

Behind him sits Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister and Trent Alexander-Arnold who are also strong creatively and it means that Klopp’s side are unlikely to have issues creating chances and scoring goals this season - it will be how their consistent their defence can be.