Jurgen Klopp is yet to decide if Mohamed Salah will be stripped of penalty duty at Liverpool after missing his last two spot-kicks.
The Egyptian forward, who has been a prolific presence for the Reds throughout his time at Anfield, has fluffed his lines from 12 yards against Bournemouth and Arsenal. His latest failure came in a thrilling 2-2 draw with the Gunners, as he dragged a tame effort wide of the post having also failed to trouble the target when slicing a shot at the Vitality Stadium. A big decision must now be made on whether Salah remains the go-to option for Liverpool, but Klopp is reluctant to be dragged into that debate for now.
The German coach told reporters when asked if Salah will be relieved of penalty-taking responsibility: “That’s something we will talk about, but not here.”
Klopp could not watch as Salah – who had already dragged Liverpool back into the game before half-time – stepped up to the spot against Arsenal, and he initially thought the 30-year-old had scored. He said of celebrating too early: “I only saw the penalty after the game. A few people in the crowd reacted, so when you don’t see the penalty, you react on what the people see and a few people obviously thought the ball was in but it wasn’t. He missed the goal. So that’s why for a second the fist, and then I realised, ‘Oh, Mo isn’t celebrating.’ And then I realised the ball wasn’t it. That’s it.”
