Liverpool’s Premier League title challenge remains in rude health but Jurgen Klopp’s side suffered a series of potentially debilitating blows during their 3-1 win over Brentford.
Klopp’s men stretched their lead at the top of the table ahead of Manchester City, who face Chelsea at 5.30pm UK time, to five points thanks to goals from Darwin Nunez, Alexis Mac Allister, the returning Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo in west London. Ivan Toney grabbed Brentford’s consolation goal.
However, despite keeping their title ambitions afloat, they lost midfielder Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota to injury, while striker Nunez was also taken off at half-time as Liverpool’s long injury list lengthened further.
The Athletic’s Andy Jones breaks down the game’s main talking points.
Mohamed Salah is crucially back with a bang
He was never going to be kept quiet was he?
After missing Liverpool’s last eight games due to Africa Cup of Nations duty and then injury, Salah returned and racked up his ninth Premier League assist of the season.
While the injuries are piling up, with fellow forwards Jota and potentially Nunez of particular concern, the sight of Egypt international returning to action from the bench as the season ramps up was be a welcome sight for Liverpool and could not have been timed better.
Liverpool coped with Salah’s absence well but the 31-year-old remains their attacking focal point and will be crucial to the outcome of the season as Klopp’s side chase four trophies.
The statistics speak for themselves. Salah’s 15 goals and nine assists in 21 appearances have seen him contribute to 41 per cent of his side’s goal involvements in the Premier League this season.
His influence on the game was clear and he looked dangerous from the moment he came off the bench. There were a few signs that some rust needed shaking off but, after one uncharacteristic miss, Salah teed up Mac Allister to score Liverpool’s second before holding off Nathan Collins to find the net himself.
Salah looks as sharp as he did before he went away to the Ivory Coast.
Mohamed Salah scores Liverpool’s third goal (Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Liverpool suffer even more injuries to key players
If the sight of Curtis Jones limping around the outside of the pitch after being substituted midway through the first half due to injury wasn’t bad enough, Diogo Jota being carried off on a stretcher with a knee injury was an even bigger punch to the gut.
And if that wasn’t bad enough, Darwin Nunez being withdrawn at half-time was the icing on a rather unsavoury cake.
Injuries and illness have been building for Liverpool in recent weeks but at Jurgen Klopp’s press conference on Friday morning, things were looking up. Only Thiago (muscle), Dominik Szoboszlai (hamstring) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (knee) were out — alongside longer-term injury absentees Joel Matip and Stefan Bajcetic — with Conor Bradley back from personal leave and Alisson and Joe Gomez returning from flu.
The picture looks much bleaker now. The first blow came on Friday afternoon with the news of Alisson’s hamstring injury and now the worrying exits of important first-teamer Jones and Jota, who was named the Premier League’s player of the month for January, coming off leaves Klopp without the services five players who have played key roles already this season.
All are being assessed to discover the extent of their injuries. Jota, whose excellent headed assisted Liverpool’s goal, was the more unfortunate, with team-mate Mac Allister standing on his foot initially before Christian Norgaard landed on his leg.
The size of Liverpool’s squad means they do have solutions but with the Carabao Cup final looming on the horizon, it is a huge blow to be missing so many big players at this stage of the season.
Diogo Jota (middle) was stretchered off in the first half (Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Kelleher deputises admirably for Alisson
The news of Alisson’s injury the day before an early kick-off could have derailed Liverpool because of how important he is but Caoimhin Kelleher’s performance helped ease any nerves surrounding the Brazilian’s absence.
It was far from the busiest afternoon for Republic of Ireland international Kelleher but he produced a composed performance, dealing with the set-piece threat of Brentford and making the saves he would be expected to make throughout the game.
Kelleher charges down Brentford’s Neal Maupay (Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images)
There have been some question marks around his performances earlier this season but ahead of the Carabao Cup final and a potential extended run in the first team due to Alisson’s injury, his clean display will have added to his confidence.
Even with the goal Liverpool conceded, there was little Kelleher could do about it. He made an excellent initial save from Sergio Reguilon but the ball fell to Ivan Toney and he slammed it past the 25-year-old. Even with the game beyond doubt, he made a superb instinctive, point-blank stop from Toney in added time to keep the score at 4-1
Replacing one of the best goalkeepers in the world is never an easy task but more performances like this afternoon will be exactly what Klopp will want to see from his backup stopper.
What did Jurgen Klopp say?
We’ll you bring you this shortly once Jurgen Klopp has spoken to the media.
What next for Liverpool?
Wednesday, February 21: Luton Town (H), Premier League, 7.30pm GMT, 2.30pm ET
With the Carabao Cup final next Sunday and the FA Cup fifth-round tie against Southampton soon after, this will be Liverpool’s last Premier League fixture until March.
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(Top photo: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
