Christian Atsu admits Mohamed Salah is difficult to stop after Newcastle United defeat

Ghana international Christian Atsu has acknowledged that it is difficult to stop Mohamed Salah in his stride with the form he has been exhibiting over the past 18 months. The Egypt international was the standout performer for the Reds last term with 32 goals and 10 assists in the top-flight and he has continued with the same vein of form this season with 13 goals and seven assists during the first half of the season.

Among those, he contributed a goal and an assist in the recent 4-0 thumping of Newcastle United and speaking after that game, Atsu highlighted that it is tedious to restrict the threat from Salah with the ‘very good’ players around him, he said: “It's difficult to stop him as he's a great player plus very good players around him. For him when you have those players around you things become easy. To try to stop him is difficult but you have to make sure you stop all of them and not focus on one player.If you look at their results if Salah doesn't score, Mane scores or Firmino or somebody else.”

“Salah made a rather slow start to the ongoing campaign and he had managed just three goals until the October international break“. However, he has since stepped up to the plate “with numerous standout performances“ and he has failed to score in just one Premier League outing for the Reds since early December.

As such, Jurgen Klopp’s team have become genuine contenders for the league crown and they are currently holding a five-point advantage over second-placed Tottenham Hotspur heading into the final game of the calendar year. The Merseyside giants are scheduled to entertain Arsenal at Anfield on Saturday and they should fancy their chances of taking the three points amid the Gunners’ defensive concerns.