In the English Premier League, the three-way championship fight is becoming a duel.
Liverpool has seriously ruined their championship chances in April. In their six league games in April, Liverpool have dropped points as follows: a draw away to Manchester United, a home defeat to Crystal Palace, a home defeat to Everton and now a draw away to West Ham on Saturday.
In addition, in the quarter-finals of the Europa League, Liverpool lost to the Italian Atalanta.
Premier League league leader Arsenal will face Tottenham in a local game in North London on Sunday, and league runner-up Manchester City will play Nottingham as a guest.
Salah’s frustration poured out
Liverpool’s big sin recently has been that the team has woken up to matches only after the opponent has taken the lead. However, on the offensive end, Liverpool has not been able to produce sufficient results.
Even now, Liverpool’s ball control percentage against West Ham was over 71 and it made 28 shots, but that was the only way the home team took the lead. in the 43rd minute Jarrod Bowen scored his 16th goal of the season from a corner kick.
Liverpool equalized at the beginning of the second half by Andy Robertson with a shot. Liverpool raced into the lead when Cody Gakpo shot in the 65th minute, and the ball went past two West Ham field players and the goalkeeper Alphonse Areola through in.
West Ham equalized in the 77th minute when Michael Antonio headed the ball from Bowen’s cross into the net.
After that, we saw the most telling situation of the match. Coaching Liverpool in his last season Jurgen Klopp made a triple change. A defender entered the field Joe Gomez as well as the star forwards Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez.
At this point, Klopp and the Egyptian striker Salah drifted into a fierce verbal confrontation. Klopp said something to Salah, after which Salah seemed very nervous and gestured strongly with his hands.
Klopp backed away from the situation, but Salah continued to gesticulate in frustration until Nunez and Gomez pushed him away.
After the match, Salah did not stop in the interview area, reports Sky Sports.
– If I speak today, it will start a fire, Salah announced.
Later, Klopp refused to reveal what caused the incident, but stated that things have already been discussed in the dressing room.
Klopp also replied that “that’s my impression, yes,” when asked if he thought the case had been dealt with in Salah’s opinion as well.
TNT Sports expert, former Liverpool striker Peter Crouch commented that similar clashes do not look good for the club.
Salah has scored 17 goals in 29 league games this season, but has recently been substituted several times.
– Salah is a player who has started most of Liverpool’s games and he will certainly be full of anger to start on the bench. “But nobody wants to see that between a manager and a key player,” Crouch said According to the BBC.
Former Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock stated to the BBC that there was a “clash of egos” in the situation. He also felt that Salah is frustrated with his situation.
– There are two people who are equally important to the club. The connection between those two has to be based on respect for how they’ve helped each other’s careers.
Will Salah also leave?
Several British media such as BBC, recently reported that Liverpool have found a successor to Klopp. According to information, Klopp will be replaced this summer by the head coach of the Dutch club Feyenoord Arne Slot.
Slot confirmed the negotiations earlier this week for ESPN. According to media reports, Liverpool will pay Feyenoord approximately 11 million euros in transfer compensation.
Klopp has coached Liverpool since 2015. During this time, the team has won, among other things, the Champions League and the Premier League.
Slot, on the other hand, coached Feyenoord to the Dutch championship last season. Currently, the team is second in the league, nine points behind PSV Eindhoven.
Slot has been Feyenoord’s head coach since 2021. He led his team to the Conference League final in his first coaching season, but AS Roma took the championship.
– I like the way his team plays football, Klopp commented on his possible successor on Friday.
Salah’s future has also been speculated. He has scored 210 goals in 346 games in seven years at Liverpool. His contract expires after the 2024–25 season.
Salah has been rumored to be linked with Saudi Arabia and the rumors have started to circulate again.
Former Rangers striker Ally McCoist told TNT Sports that Salah is one of the best players in Premier League history and has been a fantastic striker for Liverpool.
“But his condition has deteriorated and it seems to me that he might move. It could be good for both sides – it could be good for Salah to move on and it could be good for Liverpool to invest the money they get from the transfer.
ManU screwed up again
In the other matches of the Premier League on Saturday, for example, Manchester United drew 1-1 with last-place Burnley.
Brass striker Antony scored his first league goal of the season in the 79th minute, but after that Andre Onana shuffled his way in and boxed Zeki Amdounia on. Amdouni scored a goal from the ensuing kick.
In their last six league games, ManU has only beaten league jumbo Sheffield United.
Newcastle thrashed Sheffield United 5–1. Alexander Isak scored Newcastle’s 1–1 equalizer in the 26th minute.
The goal was Isak’s 18th of the season. He became the all-time leading Swedish goalscorer in one Premier League season. Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored 17 goals for Manchester United in 2016–17.
You can find all the Premier League results on Saturday at this link and the standings here.