A fight between Jurgen Klopp and Mohamed Salah, the greatest player of his era at Liverpool, in full view of the London Stadium and television cameras, suggested that all was not well at a club that all but signaled the end of the title race. with two more points lost.
There was a notable exchange between Salah and Klopp as the player prepared to come on with 13 minutes remaining – one of several first-team players left on the bench following the defeat at Goodison Park on Wednesday. In fact, Salah seemed so determined to prolong the disagreement that both of his fellow substitutes, Darwin Nunez and Joe Gomez, intervened to try and remove him.
The three were waiting to go in when Michail Antonio scored West Ham’s second goal to level the score. Klopp left Salah, Nunez, Domnik Szoboszlai, Ibrahima Konate and Curtis Jones out of the team that lost to Everton. His team fell behind late in the first half to Jarrod Bowen’s goal in what was yet another struggle to find rhythm and purpose at the start of the season. A win would leave them level on points with leaders Arsenal, despite having played one game more.
The Salah-Klopp swap will raise serious questions about whether the striker will remain at Liverpool this summer with another year left on his contract. Klopp is just three games away from the end of his Liverpool reign and much uncertainty surrounds the future of three of his biggest names – Virgil Van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Salah. The Egyptian quickly left the field at the end of the game when Klopp appeared to check on his players.
After a slow first half, in which Liverpool failed to convert possession into goals, Klopp’s team suffered again from a set piece. A short corner to Mohammed Kudus was headed in by Bowen. Andy Robertson and Cody Gakpo scored in the second half as the pressure mounted on West Ham. But Antonio was unmarked by Van Dijk and Jarell Quansah and was free to head home another Kudus cross.
More to follow…
