Salah’s armada gets Reds shipshape

– Mohamed Salah (right) has hogged the headlines this season, but as Liverpool’s 5-1 demolition of Brighton and Hove Albion demonstrated, he is but one component in a scintillating attacking armada.

Salah took a back seat at the Amex Stadium on Saturday, contenting himself with an assist as Roberto Firmino scored twice and Philippe Coutinho found the net with a delightful free kick beneath the jumping Brighton wall.

With five wins in their last six games, Liverpool have returned to the Premier League top four for the first time since August.

Their one misstep in recent weeks was the 3-3 draw at Sevilla in the Champions League, in which their failure to protect a 3-0 lead left them requiring at least a

London

point at home to Spartak Moscow tonight to reach the last-16.

But having scored 25 goals in their last eight games in all competitions, Liverpool are playing with as much verve and confidence as in any previous phase of manager Juergen Klopp’s twoyear tenure.

Liverpool’s display at Brighton moved beaten manager Chris Hughton to dub Klopp’s side “the best team we have played this season”, despite his men having also lost 2-0 to Pep Guardiola’s runaway league leaders Manchester City.

Klopp’s team struggled to beat some of the league’s lesser lights last season, but he downplayed their performance on the south coast, saying it had simply been a case of “doing the job”. – AFP