Klopp backs misfiring Salah to prove critics wrong and get back to the scoring form that wowed Kop

JURGEN KLOPP says misfiring Mo Salah will have critics eating their words by the end of the season.

It was another bad day at the office for Salah, who looked unhappy when hooked with 24 minutes left. He missed a string of chances and looks to have lost the sharpness that made him the star of last season.

Liverpool manager Klopp admits Salah, last season’s player of the year, is not happy but is confident he will recapture his dynamic form.

“Of course (he is not happy),” Klopp said. “That is a normal situation. But that is what you have a manager for.

“It is easy for me because I do not read what you write but the boys do a little bit more.

“You will now do what a doctor does and dissect. A big nice cut and wow – you will find pretty much nothing.

“Then, whatever you write, you will say sorry afterwards. It does not matter what people say. It is no problem. It is all fine.”

Liverpool snatched a point thanks to Daniel Sturridge’s wonder strike, a curling leftfooted shot into the top corner, which must be a goalof-the-season contender.

But Klopp will be worried by the wastefulness of his first-choice front-line.

Salah was the worst culprit, missing the sort of chances he routinely made look easy last term. In fact he was so profligate that it was no real surprise when his manager substituted him in the second half with Liverpool trailing.

The little Egyptian (above) has passed the mantle of the Premier League’s best player over to Eden Hazard, who scored a wonder goal of his own at Anfield in the League Cup last Wednesday and who produced another moment of magic to break the deadlock in the 25th minute at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. His left-footed shot from a difficult angle crowned the silkiest of Chelsea moves that began in their own half.

And only the brilliance of Liverpool’s Brazilian keeper Alisson denied the Belgian (right) in a one-on-one in the second half.

But Liverpool doggedly refused to surrender their unbeaten start to their Premier League campaign and Klopp admits that was the most pleasing aspect.

Klopp said: “That is football with a big heart. I love that. We deserved a point. We got it. We carry on.

“I am only happy because we got a result. A point here is absolutely okay. I was fine with the performance but losing here 1-0 would have been really harsh.

“But when you are 1-0 down and you have lost to the same team a few days earlier, it is difficult to stay confident.”

Though Chelsea are two points behind the Mersey men in the Premier League table, they are also unbeaten and Klopp was full of praise for the Londoners.

He believes Maurizio Sarri’s men, at Southampton in their next Premier League game, are favourites to win the Europa League this season – on Thursday they play Hungarian outfit Vidi – even though he reckons it’s a very difficult competition to win.

The German said: “For me, they are the clear favourites (for the Europa League). There are a few tough teams in it. The group stages are not the problem but it is what comes after that. Playing a knockout game in February is a kind of a killer because that is the most intense time in England – and you also

have the FA Cup. Maybe Chelsea will also be in the Carabao Cup. That can break your neck.

“I am pretty sure with that team you are ambitious and you would want to win the Europa League.”