The Reds' strikers are leading the Premier League's Golden Boot race
Saturday 27 April 2019 11:08, UK
Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane both scored twice as Liverpool beat Huddersfield 5-0, leaving Sky Sports pundits Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville to wax lyrical about the pair.
Salah is now the leading scorer in the Premier League this season with 21 goals, while Mane is second with 20, and Carragher believes Salah has proved himself as one of the best players on the planet.
It was Salah's 100th appearance for the club and his brace took him to 69 goals in that period, the most any Liverpool player has managed in their first century of games.
"They play as wide players but they have to get into the right positions to score goals. That battle for top scorer just shows the firepower in this Liverpool team at the moment," Carragher said.
"Someone mentioned that you couldn't believe some of the strikers Liverpool had, such as Michael Owen, had never scored 20 league goals in a season.
"These are wide strikers, they're not right through the middle. Salah has at different times and Mane time and again, but they predominantly play wide and it shows the firepower in the team and the ability to score goals.
"What Salah has done here is put himself to a level where he is on that level behind the top two of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. The goals he's scored in the last two years, he's right in amongst it."
He added: "When you're at a club and Suarez is the perfect example, or Torres, when you lose them you think how are you going to replace their goals.
"But I think the great clubs, great players will always come through. They'll always find players again. It's natural progression. To have so many so quickly for Liverpool is rare now, when you lose players to Barca and the like."
Former full-back Neville believes they would be a nightmare to play against and hailed the job that Jurgen Klopp has done in improving his Salah, Mane and Roberto Firmino, who missed the Huddersfield victory through injury.
While Liverpool and City go head-to-head in the race for the Premier League title, Neville also admitted that he actually prefers the Red's front three to the current league leaders.
"You think about Salah who was rejected by Chelsea, Mane who was at Southampton and wasn't pulling up any trees - he did look dangerous - and Firmino in his first season where I thought he didn't look top quality," Neville explained
"What Jurgen Klopp has done with these three to get them to continually run in behind all the time, press from the front, react so quickly when they give the ball away - he's done an amazing job with these three.
"The front three for City are outstanding and you can't say a bad word about them, but I actually prefer this three. I wouldn't want to play against them."
Neville added: "They ask questions of you all through the match. They're always on the last line and ready to run behind you. It's not just these two, it's Roberto Firmino, [Andy] Robertson, Trent Alexander-Arnold - they're always ready to penetrate behind.
"It's a nightmare, and Salah and Mane's runs are worst type of runs for full-backs to mark. Centre-backs don't know where they are and you don't know whether to pass them over or stay on them. They're at full speed and it's no wonder they score goals.
"I questioned whether Salah's first season was, not a fluke, but a freak season and would he be able to repeat it. He's proving it wasn't. Mane just keeps improving, improving and improving."
