MO SALAH’S influence is key to Liverpool’s chances of beating Barcelona.
The forward, who scored twice and set up one in the 5-0 win over Huddersfield on Friday, is as important to Liverpool as Lionel Messi is to Barcelona.
Salah is a match-winner, a decorated player with the potential to change the course of a game with his quick-witted, intelligent touches.
Clearly he is a tier below Messi, but Salah is a talismanic figure for this Liverpool side as they chase down Premier League and Champions League glory.
On Wednesday, when these two come head-to-head in the Champions League semi-final, Salah will be central to Liverpool’s chances of reaching another final.
MAURICIO POCHETTINO should have let his players off the hook after their 1-0 defeat at home to West Ham.
They have bigger fish to fry tomorrow when Tottenham face Ajax in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final in North London.
Poch fears his players are on their knees, facing burnout after a long season chasing another top-four finish and a sustained run in the Champions League.
Even though the Dutch club have been training in favourable conditions after being given extra time to prepare, Spurs still have a lot going for them.
If their attitude is spot on tomorrow night, they can still reach the June final against Barcelona or Liverpool in Madrid.
GONZALO HIGUAIN offered nothing up front for Chelsea during their dreary 1-1 draw at Manchester United.
Three months in to his Chelsea career, the striker has failed to gain an understanding with their best player Eden Hazard.
The two of them were rowing with each other in the second half when Higuain failed to read Hazard’s intentions when he played in the forward.
Higuain was a world beater once, a striker of pedigree and class during his purple patches with Real Madrid and Napoli.
Judging by this, those days are long gone.
IT was only a few short months ago that Marcelo Bielsa was getting battered for spying illegally on Leeds United’s opponents.
Judging by the hysterical reaction at Elland Road after he ordered his players to allow Alberto Adomah to run through unchallenged to score an equaliser for Aston Villa, he will be in line for a Uefa Fair Play Award.
Bielsa unquestionably did the right thing, agreeing to Villa manager Dean Smith’s request to let the visitors score in chaotic circumstances.
After less than a year in English football, he has certainly left a long-lasting impression.
CREDIT to Ralph Hasenhuttl for keeping Southampton in the Premier League.
Hasenhuttl’s fine work has largely gone under the radar after steering Saints to safety.
After a series of botched appointments under former technical director Les Reed, the popular Saints head coach has changed the mentality on the south coast.
When they were not selling their best players, Saints were regarded as a progressive, go-ahead club.
Now that Hasenhuttl has guided them to safety, they can start thinking about building another forward-thinking team again.
