Seri could Kop deal
Salah who can scrunch up the most carefully-laid spoiling plan, Salah who now strikes fear.
Let’s be honest, not many thought they would be saying that when he enrolled in Jurgen Klopp’s camp last summer.
This is a formidably energetic, quick side and Salah adds that unpredictability.
Unpredictability with an eminently predictable end result.
If Salah maintains this form, there is no reason why Liverpool should not at least have a squeak of repeating the European achievement of the side managed by the man who sat in the opposition dugout last night.
They are certainly in prime form and it is not just down to Salah, naturally.
The influence of Virgil van Dijk, for example, is quietly growing. On the sort of evening when the Bovril is for pouring over your hands, not drinking, Van Dijk looked suitably chilled. Chilled out, that is. He is certainly a calm defender and that is half the battle.
And he points a lot, waves a lot, that could be the other half.
Van Dijk will make a great manager when he packs the playing in, if this 90 minutes of non-stop orchestration is anything to go by.
He should take a baton out with him next time.
Seriously, though, he seems to be a born co-ordinator and Klopp probably believes that quality to be worth a decent chunk of the £75million fee. At less than half that eye-watering sum, Salah has clearly been spectacular value for money and for a good while here, was the only participant likely to send the right sort of shiver though the patrons. Once he had scored from one of his more routine chances this season, the outcome of proceedings was in no doubt, even before Sadio Mane struck sweetly. This was far from fluent, far from spectacular, but Liverpool are currently a confidently efficient collection of players. There is justified, excitable chatter of how Pep Guardiola has improved the likes of Raheem Sterling, but – on current form – Klopp has done similarly sterling work with the likes of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
The same could be said of his handling of Andrew Robertson, but maybe not for Salah’s case.
Salah had proved himself an exceptional player in his time in Serie A, but many were just too blinkered to notice.
Liverpool noticed, are reaping the considerable benefits and while De Bruyne should still be crowned Player of the Year, it would not exactly be a rank injustice if Salah pipped him to it.
The stats are good, the player is better.