Mo Salah can hurt Newcastle's dodgy defence

Sean Byrne
23 April 2021

Liverpool's Mohamed Salah (left) and Leeds United's Diego Llorente battle for the ball during the Premier League match at Elland Road, Leeds.

With the European Super League dominating the news all week, Salah and his side must now turn their focus back to the Premier League as the race for a top four continues.

Qualifying for the Champions League is undoubtedly a priority for Liverpool. However, after dropping two points against Leeds United last Monday, the Reds must now start performing better if they are to achieve this.

They currently sit seventh in the table but are just two points adrift of Chelsea in fourth.

That means that this weekend is a must-win for Jurgen Klopp's men as they come up against 15th placed Newcastle United - a team that has won back-to-back games.

Tip for the Fixture

Salah has a decent goalscoring record against Newcastle. The Egypt international is currently priced at 2/1 with Skybet to score first.

Key stats

Liverpool have not lost to Newcastle at Anfield since November 1995, where they were defeated 1-0 in the League Cup fourth round.

In his seven appearances against Newcastle as a Liverpool player, Salah has won five and drawn twice.

Mohamed Salah levelled for Liverpool with his 19th Premier League goal of the season

The player has bagged four goals against the Magpies and he's managed to score every time that they visit Anfield.

Here, we take a look at Salah's performances in the last three match-ups at Anfield:

Liverpool 2-0 Newcastle United (March 3, 2018)

Salah got on the scoresheet and was a star player as the Reds comfortably earned three points against Rafa Benitez's men.

The Egyptian nearly got a stunning goal early on as he first time volleyed the ball from a tight angle towards goal, nearly catching out Martin Dubravka at his near post.

Minutes later Salah did get the opener, as he controlled a pass from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain before slotting through Dubravka's legs comfortably.

Sadio Mane got the second and final goal of the game despite the fact that Klopp's side had many more chances to extend this lead.

The goal from Salah was not only his first against Newcastle but also his seventh consecutive goal in as many matches. He was the first player to do this for Liverpool since 2014.

Liverpool 4-0 Newcastle United (December 26, 2018)

The Reds destroyed Newcastle on Boxing Day 2018 with Salah one of four Liverpool players to get their name on the scoresheet.

Dejan Lovren opened the scoring for Liverpool after 11 minutes, but it wasn't until the second half that the floodgates began to open.

Two minutes into the restart, referee Graham Scott judged that Paul Dummet had brought down the Egyptian forward in the box. Salah then coolly converted from the spot to double the lead.

Xherdan Shaqiri made it three, and a perfect corner from Salah found the head of Fabinho who made it four to round off the match.

It was a strong performance from Liverpool and with a goal and an assist Salah was one of the stand-out players, even if he did make the most of minimal contact to win the penalty.

Liverpool 3-1 Newcastle United (September 14, 2019)

The last time these two sides met at Anfield, Liverpool were forced to come from behind to win the three points following a strong start by Newcastle.

It took just seven minutes for the hosts to concede as Jetro Willems spectacularly found the top corner with a drilled shot, leaving Adrian with no chance.

Mane equalised after 28 minutes with a curling effort. Then, just before the break, he got his second of the game with a simple tap-in following a mistake by Dubravka.

In the second half, Salah put the game beyond doubt with some fantastic link-up play alongside Roberto Firmino. After giving the ball to the Brazilian, Salah instantly received it back with a lovely flick and strolled through the Newcastle back line before finding the back of the net.

Whilst Firmino may have stolen the limelight with a stunning performance, Salah was still close to his devastating best and was a real nuisance throughout for the Magpies.

Salah will now be hoping he can maintain his 100% goalscoring record at home against Newcastle this weekend in what is a must-win match for the Reds.