LONDON: Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is relaxed about Mohamed Salah’s goalscoring drought, saying the Egyptian forward remains a key part of the title chasers’ attacking armory.
Salah, who scored 44 times in his maiden season at Anfield, has gone eight matches without finding the net but still has 20 goals in 2018/19 and played a pivotal part in the last-gasp winner against Tottenham on Sunday.
“When everybody is talking about ‘he didn’t score in I don’t know how many games’, he doesn’t seem to be bothered about it. I’m not,” Klopp said on Wednesday.
“For sure we didn’t really speak about it. I think if something is clear and obvious you do speak about it. How do you deal with a situation when he scored 40 goals last year?
“His career’s not over. It’s like if he can score this year 20 goals then he’s scored 60 in the last two. Wow, that’s not too bad.”
Salah’s success last season means he has attracted more attention from opponents in the current campaign, often being double-marked.
It has had the effect, though, of benefiting teammates, with Sadio Mane (20 goals) and Roberto Firmino (14) taking on some of the burden.
“Sometimes you need a bit of time to adapt to the new situations and I don’t think he really needed that,” said Klopp on Salah’s overall value to the side and how he has coped with the close attention.
“He’s a threat. He helps us a lot. He deals with all the new situations for him really well.
“If you have only one (goalscorer), you think maybe you rely a bit too much on that. This year we don’t rely on Mo’s goals, but he’s still in a very good position in comparison to all the other players.
“Seventeen (league) goals is a good number, and there are still a lot of games to come. But it was never a problem. We have 79 points — you cannot have that with a lot of problems over the year.”
Liverpool travel to Southampton on Friday and Klopp reported a clean bill of health after a minor injury worry over defender Virgil van Dijk following the win over Tottenham.
Jurgen Klopp relaxed about Mohamed Salah’s Liverpool goal drought
Jurgen Klopp relaxed about Mohamed Salah’s Liverpool goal drought
- Salah, who scored 44 times in his maiden season at Anfield, has gone eight matches without finding the net
- Salah’s success last season means he has attracted more attention from opponents
Alcaraz defeats Rublev to reach Qatar Open final against Fils
- The Spaniard will face France’s Arthur Fils in Saturday’s final
- Russian Rublev fought back from 3-0 down to level the second set and then saved five match points
DOHA: World number one Carlos Alcaraz continued his unbeaten run in 2026 as he beat defending champion Andrey Rublev 7-6(3) 6-4 on Friday to reach the Qatar Open final, reaching the 12th summit clash in his last 13 tournaments.
The Spaniard will face France’s Arthur Fils in Saturday’s final after the 21-year-old beat Czech Jakub Mensik 6-4 7-6(4) in the second semifinal.
Russian Rublev fought back from 3-0 down to level the second set and then saved five match points, but Alcaraz ultimately prevailed to win his 11th straight match of the season.
“I know what I’m able to do every time that I step on court. For me it’s great. Obviously, the way I’m approaching every match, I’m just really proud about it,” said 22-year-old Alcaraz, who has been a finalist at the last four Grand Slams, winning three of them.
“It’s paying off, all the focus and attention. I’m just happy and proud about myself with how I’m getting better and getting mature I guess.”
Rublev made 14 unforced backhand errors in the first set, but outwitted Alcaraz with precise forehands that nicked the baseline as both players broke the other twice each to go into a tiebreak.
Alcaraz held his nerve to go 6-3 up in the tiebreak as a frustrated Rublev repeatedly smashed the racket on his left knee, breaking a string. Seven-time Grand Slam winner Alcaraz then pretended to slice but landed a forehand down the sideline to win the first set.
Alcaraz broke Rublev twice to go 5-3 up in the second set and was serving for the match when the world number 14 saved three match points to break back.
But Alcaraz pushed to break again for victory in the next game, and finally converted his sixth match point when Rublev’s backhand landed wide.
Fils reached his fifth career final with a commanding victory over world number 16 Mensik in just over 90 minutes. The Frenchman — who suffered a lower back stress fracture during the 2025 French Open that led to eight months out of the game — committed fewer unforced errors in an otherwise even match, while saving seven of eight break points and converting two of five.
“Eight months without playing, watching others and staying in bed. It was a long and difficult ordeal. But today, the comeback is all the more sweet. It means a lot to me to be in the final,” said Fils.
