Arne Slot hails ‘unbelievable’ Mohamed Salah as star matches Liverpool assist record

SUNDERLAND – Liverpool manager Arne Slot heaped praise on Mohamed Salah after the “unbelievable” Egypt star equalled the club’s record for Premier League assists by setting up Virgil van Dijk’s winner in their 1-0 victory at Sunderland on Feb 11.

Slot’s willingness to highlight Salah’s perfectly weighted corner that van Dijk headed home in the 61st minute signalled the continued rehabilitation of his relationship with the 33-year-old forward.

Salah claimed the club had “thrown him under the bus” and made it clear he was not on good terms with Slot after he was dropped for several games amid a sustained dip in form earlier this season.

The outburst prompted speculation that Salah could be sold, but he quickly cleared the air with Slot to get back in the Dutchman’s line-up.

Salah’s latest assist in his glittering Liverpool career took him to 92 – level with Anfield icon Steven Gerrard.

“He has so many records for this club, but to have this one combined with such a great player. Both were unbelievable players for this club,” Slot said. “Unfortunately for Steven, I expect Mo to go above him. I don’t expect, but I hope he goes above him.”

Liverpool’s second win in their last eight league games eased the pressure on Slot as they kept themselves in the hunt for a top-five finish that is likely to guarantee Champions League qualification.

Slot’s sixth-placed team (42 points) are just two points adrift of fifth-placed Chelsea and three behind fourth-placed Manchester United.

“Very important. I think we dug deep, after only two days of rest. Then going to a difficult away game. We showed again how well we can play on the ball,” said Slot, whose men are next in action against Brighton & Hove Albion at home in the FA Cup fourth round on Feb 14.

“The character we have shown throughout the whole game was very good and that is why we leave this place with a 1-0 win.

“Second half, we had so many good moments and so many moments where we had quality players in promising positions.

“The overall performance in terms of work rate was really good.”

Asked if it was the perfect response after their late 2-1 defeat by Manchester City on Feb 8, Slot said his men had already shown similar reactions to setbacks throughout the season, although that did not translate into victory every time as they could not convert their chances.

It was a similar scenario for much of the game against the Black Cats, with Florian Wirtz hitting the post.

“In the end we needed a set piece to score, and we usually have against these teams 10 set pieces, but we usually – and people from Liverpool can tell you – we don’t score from set pieces,” said Slot.

“But tonight we did and that’s the biggest difference.”

There was bad news for Slot on the injury front after Japan midfielder Wataru Endo was stretchered off with a foot injury in the first half.

Slot said Endo will be assessed and he expects not to have the 33-year-old for “quite a long time. Endo was deputising for injured right-backs Conor Bradley and Jeremie Frimpong, while the versatile Dominik Szoboszlai serves a suspension.

Defeat left Sunderland 11th in the table, level on 36 points with 10th-placed Newcastle United.

Black Cats manager Regis le Bris was left to rue the “small margins” which “define these kinds of games” as the Reds ended their unbeaten home record in this season’s top flight.

“In the final third, they were good. We tried, and the team spirit was excellent once again, but it was a question of details, and details make the difference,” added the Frenchman.