Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp says the club “do not expect” Mohamed Salah to replicate his goalscoring form of last season – and joked his forward is facing “a crisis”.
Egypt international Salah, 26, netted 44 times for the Reds last season and was the Premier League’s top scorer.
He has scored twice in six matches this term, though he had only one more goal at this stage of the 2017-18 campaign.
“No-one remembers that [how he started last season],” said Klopp.
Salah scored Liverpool’s opening goal of the season against West Ham in August, but has not scored since his strike in the Reds’ win over Brighton four weeks ago.
“Wow, that is a crisis,” said Klopp, whose side host Southampton on Saturday (15:00 BST kick-off).
“It is really no problem.”
When asked if people were expecting the same from Salah as last season, the German boss said: “Of course everyone expects that, that is clear.
“We don’t expect that – but we want him to score as often as possible.”
Liverpool have won their opening five league matches and are second in the table, level on points with Chelsea, and Klopp says Salah remains a “threat” to the opposition.
“On the defensive side, the past two games he was outstanding, perfect,” he added.
“That says everything about him. He is really ready to work for the team in these moments.
“It is a completely normal situation for an offensive player that they have times when they don’t score. But he is still a threat, has fantastic situations in both games and he is in good shape.”
Source: BBC
