MOURINHO DESPERATELY SEEKING ANOTHER MASTER PLAN TO STOP ANFIELD ACE SALAH

MANCHESTER UNITED were one of only two Premier League teams to prevent Mohamed Salah from scoring last season.

With Jose Mourinho’s defensive credentials under rare scrutiny, he knows stopping his former player is key to pulling off an upset against unbeaten and high-flying Liverpool.

Mourinho infamously managed the Egyptian superstar for a brief time at Chelsea and twice sent him on loan to Fiorentina and Roma in 2015.

The 26-year-old’s progress since then has been remarkable and Mourinho says he can’t pass on much inside information about Salah to his current defenders based on their days together at Stamford Bridge.

‘The Salah I knew at Chelsea was a project player, now he is one of the best in the world,’ says Mourinho.

‘He has developed incredibly well since then on every level. He was a fast, fragile boy and now he is a fast strong man. Physically, amazing.

‘He was not pyschologically adapted to the Premier League when he came from a small club in Switzerland (Basel) to a big club in England. I played him at White Hart Lane and The Eithad, and it was too much for him. Now he plays anywhere, Barcelona, Madrid, and he’s like: “I am Mo Salah and I afraid of nobody.”

‘Liverpool have many strengths but he is a nuclear strength.’

Unsure of his personnel, Mourinho is fretting about how to stop Salah. He won’t care about criticism that he parked the bus at Anfield last season but knows Jurgen Klopp has based his team around the Egyptian.

‘We analyse our opponents, their strengths and weaknesses, in every game and when you go to Liverpool you have to speak and think about Salah. We have to think of the best way to cope with a fantastic player like him.’