Mohamed Salah underlined his worth to Liverpool with a masterclass because the Premier League leaders crushed Tottenham.
Ruben Amorim obtained a painful reminder of the dimensions of the duty dealing with him to rebuild Manchester United, whereas Manchester Metropolis’s disaster is mounting.
AFP Sport seems at three speaking factors from the weekend’s motion:
Liverpool should tie up peerless Salah
Mohamed Salah was already successful the general public relations battle in his contract wrangle with Liverpool and the Egypt star’s show-stopping efficiency in Sunday’s 6-3 win at Tottenham offered additional proof that the membership’s powerbrokers threat a significant backlash from followers in the event that they let him go away.
Salah scored twice and offered two assists within the goal-spree in north London as Liverpool moved 4 factors clear on the prime of the Premier League.
The 32-year-old is the primary Premier League participant to bag at the very least 10 objectives and 10 assists earlier than Christmas, whereas his brace additionally took him into fourth place on Liverpool’s all-time record of scorers with 229 in all competitions.
Salah’s immense worth to Arne Slot’s staff is obvious, however Liverpool have been unable to steer the ahead to signal a brand new contract as hypothesis mounts about his future.
With Salah’s present deal expiring on the finish of this season, he will likely be free to signal a pre-contract settlement with a international membership from January, leaving Liverpool followers hoping he’s lastly persuaded to increase his seven-year keep sooner moderately than later.
Amorim takes blame for United woe
Ruben Amorim took accountability for Manchester United’s humiliating 3-0 dwelling defeat in opposition to Bournemouth as he conceded every little thing is “so onerous” for his troubled membership.
Simply seven days after their memorable comeback win at Manchester Metropolis, Amorim’s facet have been booed off following a woeful efficiency that leaves them languishing in thirteenth place.
United will spend Christmas within the backside half of the desk for the primary time since 1989 as Amorim involves phrases with a fourth defeat in his 9 video games in all competitions since changing the sacked Erik ten Hag.
As soon as once more, set-pieces have been United’s weak spot, with Dean Huijsen scoring with a first-half header from a free-kick to begin the stunning collapse.
“With out conceding nothing to the opponent after which one set-piece makes us extra nervous, all of the stadium,” Amorim stated.
“I felt it for the reason that first minute, there’s lots of nervousness. That is regular due to the context and it is actually disappointing.”
Hampered by his leaky defence, Amorim is aware of United are in a “troublesome second” forward of the Boxing Day journey to lowly Wolves.
So it was becoming that Amorim was in the course of telling reporters that it was “my accountability to teach the gamers” when his press convention was interrupted by a leak from the media room ceiling.
Slumping Man Metropolis should ‘stick collectively’
Manchester Metropolis defender Rico Lewis urged his crisis-torn facet to “stick collectively” after their sixth Premier League defeat of the season in opposition to Aston Villa.
Metropolis’s 2-1 loss at Villa Park left the reeling champions with 9 defeats of their final 12 matches in all competitions.
Pep Guardiola’s males have already misplaced twice as many league video games this time period as they did all through the entire of final season on their option to successful a fourth successive title.
Metropolis have solely managed one clean-sheet of their final 10 video games in all competitions, exposing the basis of their issues.
Lewis, 20, hopes the skilled figures in Metropolis’s squad may help flip the tide, however he acknowledged they have to not let the hunch trigger rifts within the dressing room.
“There’s leaders within the dressing room. They will communicate, everybody listens and everybody agrees,” he stated.
“However when it comes right down to it, it is not what is claimed within the altering room, it is what we’re doing on the pitch. That is what must be solved.
“No person goes onto the pitch saying ‘I am not doing that’, or ‘I do not wish to win’. It is troublesome proper now however now we have to stay collectively.”
smg/nf
