KOP BOSS KLOPP BACKS MISFIRING STAR TO ‘EXPLODE’

JURGEN KLOPP has told Mo Salah that he cannot compare to

Manchester City’s goalscoring sensation Erling Haaland.

Salah, 30, won his third Golden Boot award last season – but has scored just twice in the Premier League for Liverpool this term.

Thirty-five miles away at the Etihad, Haaland has already found the net 20 times for the champions – 15 of them in the league.

Kop boss Klopp is backing his Egyptian forward to “explode” – but insisted he cannot measure himself against City’s new talisman.

Klopp said: “With Mo, I hope he is close to exploding. But nobody in the world can cope with the

Haaland situation at this moment.

“It’s crazy what he is doing. When he scored his second goal in the

Champions League against Copenhagen, he shook his head as if to say, ‘I can do whatever I want and the ball bounces straight to my feet’.

“Haaland is an exceptional player in an exceptional team, so that obviously works pretty well. I don’t think we should compare anybody with Haaland at this moment – at least I don’t.

“Mo wants to score goals. Definitely, desperately, definitely, 100 per cent – and that will never change.

“Call him in 20 years and it will be the same. That will never change.

“With Mo, it is like this, even if his goalscoring numbers are not that crazy, you see how often he is involved in the passes for goals. The problem is, that if he doesn’t score a goal, then no one because I watch the whole game again appreciates that.” and not just the highlights.

Klopp criticised his team for failing to “It means I see those little things. So defend properly as Liverpool lost more for me, Mo is fine. We are just used to ground on early pacesetters Arsenal with having a specific picture of him in our a 3-3 home draw against Brighton minds, but he is a human being

(below) last weekend. “We have to make sure that the team

The Reds bounced back by beating perform at a level where every player can Rangers 2-0 in the ‘Arsenal are a be the best version of Champions League, with great club and themselves.”

Salah scoring from the spot. are finding their Liverpool are 11 points

They travel to face way back’ behind Arsenal and Klopp is Arsenal at the Emirates a big admirer of the way with their manager calling on them to Mikel Arteta has rebuilt the Gunners follow Salah’s lead when it comes to after a tough start to his tenure. doing the dirty work. But Klopp will be interested to see

Klopp said: “From my how the Londoners can handle an point of view, the way Mo increasingly busy schedule in the run-up defended against Rangers to the World Cup. was at an incredibly high He said: “Arsenal is a big club and we level. And if this team have big games against them. They’re a defends at a high level, then great club. Under Arsene Wenger, they we are able to play some stood for a specific style of football. good stuff. “There have been a few changes, but

“Forget about Mo scoring pretty quickly they have found their way or losing the ball here or back. They play in the Europa League there. He makes three of again this season. They didn’t make it four key passes, and that’s last year into the Champions League, but exceptional. now they are ready for the next step.

“As a coach, it is easier for “We will have to see how they deal me to see what he does with three or four competitions.”