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Sunday, August 26, 2018

Why Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane will have point to prove at Liverpool this season

If, as David Coleman once memorably opined, goals pay the rent, then expect the surrounds of Liverpool's celebrated front three to be positively palatial.
Never before has a Reds forward line proved as devastating, as clinical, as feared as the triumvirate of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane last season.
Between them, they accrued a total of 91 goals between them, each player with their own individual tale to tell.



For Salah, a return of 44 goals was the second-highest in Liverpool's history. Only Ian Rush, with 47, has scored more in a single campaign.
It was enough to not only make the Egyptian the club's Player of the Season, but also be voted the PFA Player of the Year and the Footballer of the Year.
Not bad for a player who arrived at Anfield with the reputation of having been a Premier League failure at Chelsea, and with question marks over his £36.9million fee.
What a bargain that looks now.
For Firmino, his tally of 27 was the best of his career, highlighted by no-look finishes and a penchant for the flamboyant.
Not bad for a player who 12 months ago was still being viewed with suspicion as a centre forward. However, the false number nine took on the shirt and embraced the position as his own.
And for Mane, there was an improvement on his debut season with a 20-goal haul.
Half of those came in the Champions League, with Mane joining the exclusive club of Liverpool players to have scored in the final.
Not bad for a player who, for the first half of the term, was in danger of losing his regular starting role amid whispers over whether the Senegalese had run his course at Anfield.
Quite the season for the forwards.
Given such outstanding form, then, it seems remarkable to contemplate the trio will have a point to prove this term.
But the finale of last season, and their subsequent experiences at the World Cup, will surely have instilled all three with even greater hunger this time around.
Salah's determination is the most obvious, not least to show he is more than just a one-season wonder, a statistical freak that won't be repeated.
His Champions League final ended in the agony of the shoulder injury suffered during the first-half tangle with Sergio Ramos, only able to watch as Liverpool tumbled to a 3-1 defeat.
The fallout lingered.
“He sent me a message, but I never told him it was 'okay',” said Salah of Ramos reaching out after the incident.
“My comment is that it's always okay when the one who made you cry first, then makes you laugh. Maybe he could also tell me if I'm going to be ready for the World Cup?”

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