Paul Merson believes that if Mohamed Salah starts on Sunday, Liverpool will most certainly beat Manchester City.
Ahead of Liverpool’s upcoming clash against Sparta Prague in the Europa League, Jurgen Klopp revealed that the Egyptian winger has returned to training for the last two days from his injury [via HaytersTV].
As a result, it seems like the £34.3 million (Sky Sports) man is likely to be in contention to start for the Reds against Pep Guardiola’s men at Anfield.
Paul Merson says if Mohamed Salah starts, Liverpool will beat Manchester City on Sunday
The 31-year-old tends to get on the scoresheet against City, scoring seven goals against them in 13 appearances in the Premier League.
As for the Sky Blues, it seems like they could have almost a fully-fit squad to travel to Merseyside and look for their second win at Anfield during the Guardiola era.
With Manchester City set to face Liverpool in a potential title decider, Paul Merson reckons Mohamed Salah could lead his side to victory.
“I’m not saying it’s a one-man team, he needs to play, I think if he plays, I just think he’s world-class. I think he’s one of the best players in the world of football. I think you look at Man City, probably their Achilles heal is going to be down the left with [Jeremy] Doku and [Nathan] Ake, in my opinion”, he said on Sky Sports.
“I thought Ake fell asleep a couple of times, especially in the first five or 10 minutes, one [Alejandro] Garnacho gets over the top, the other one, he plays on [Bruno] Fernandes. [Mohamed] Salah is the best runner without the ball in the world of football in my opinion. He makes runs without the ball, I think it’ll be a threat.”
Paul Merson believes that the Liverpool duo of Conor Bradley and Mohamed Salah could make life hell for the Manchester City pairing of Nathan Ake and Jeremy Doku.
“The lad, Doku, I’m not his biggest fan of if I’m being honest, I’m not his biggest fan and I think [Conor] Bradley and Salah, if he plays down there will get the better of them and I think that’s their Achilles heal.”
Merson backs Salah to emerge as such a difference-maker for his side that he would be surprised if the hosts did not beat the treble-winners if he ends up starting from the off.
“I just think if Salah plays, they win. If he doesn’t play, I’m not sure they win the game but if he did play, I’d be quite shocked if they didn’t win.”
Nathan Ake did a job on the Reds legend last time around
Considering Jeremy Doku started for Manchester City while Nathan Ake kept Mohamed Salah quiet during their 1-1 draw against Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium, one questions why Paul Merson is so doubtful that the Sky Blues pair will be able to contend with the legendary winger.
As elite a player as Salah is, he barely had a sniff when he faced City the last time the two sides met each other and the same could be the case on Sunday, especially due to how brilliant Ake is in one-versus-one situations, also taming wingers like Saka and Coman.
Only time will tell if Paul Merson is proven right but as things stand, his doubts about Nathan Ake and Jeremy Doku from a defensive standpoint seem to be misplaced.
