Gary Neville believes Liverpool "owe" Mohamed Salah to still be in the Premier League title race when he returns from Africa Cup of Nations action with Egypt.
The Sky Sports pundit believes the Reds now have a "real chance" of winning the championship
Salah scored twice to fire Liverpool to a thrilling 4-2 victory over Newcastle
Neville said
"Before the game we did a piece about Liverpool having three world-class players in Alisson (Becker), (Virgil) Van Dijk and Salah.
"Van Dijk has been back to his best this past month or two, Liverpool’s defensive record has been good, they've kept a lot of clean sheets, and Alisson is the best goalkeeper in the world.
“And they've got someone who hits numbers from a wide area and is so consistent. He delivers year in, year out - it's unbelievable, really.
"If they keep those three fit, there's a massive chance, but with Salah going away for a month, it does damage them.
"When Jurgen Klopp first came to Liverpool I really liked watching them. They were really frantic, loads of pressing, it was fast, and sometimes you didn't know quite what was happening - I'm not sure the players on the pitch did.
"It lacked a little bit of composure, but it was really exciting - heavy metal football he (Klopp) called it when he was at (Borussia) Dortmund.
"Then it became smooth along with that electricity, they became a wonderful team, going head to head with Man City, they won the Premier League title and the Champions League title.
"Now a lot of those players have left and they're in a transitional period like they were at the beginning under Klopp with Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz.
"They're not polished yet. They're not at the peak of their careers where you start to make precise decisions.
"There's an electricity to them but also a frustration that in the final third the last part can go a little bit wrong.
"You wonder what that's going to be like without Salah but they owe it to him to get through the next month still in the title race, still at the top of the league and still ahead so they can give Salah a chance to come back and have a real go at the title."
Salah could miss four Premier League matches - as well the two-legged Carabao Cup semi-finals and potentially two FA Cup ties
Neville added
"I didn't think Liverpool would be in a title race and I still don't think they'll do it,"
"But they've got a manager who is different.
"He gets the best out of players and demands a lot from them. They go and they go and they don't stop. They're everything you want from a football team.
"They have had their off-moments during the last six-seven years under Jurgen Klopp but more often than not they're a team who die out there on the pitch wearing that shirt. There's something to be said for that.
"And I have to say they've got a real chance because of the manager more than anything. He knows how to handle title run-ins.
"They've got something Arsenal and Villa don't have. Obviously City become favourites now but Liverpool are in with a chance. I wouldn't have said that and I don't think Jurgen Kopp would have said that at the start of the season."
Comments