Liverpool vs Napoli: Delight as Mohamed Salah sits down Kalidou Koulibaly

Liverpool fans were delighted as Mohamed Salah sat down Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly in the Champions League group fixture.

Koulibaly has been heralded as one of the best defenders in Europe – along Virgil van Dijk – but on Wednesday night Salah made him look at bang average.

The Egyptian took the ball on the right hand side and ghosted past the Napoli defender like he was nothing and managed to sit Koulibaly down on his arse for good measure.

Salah was taken out of the starting side to face Crystal Palace in order to protect his ankle but we all thought The King would be back in the team and Jurgen Klopp didn’t disappoint.

It was instantly apparent how important the former Roma man is to the side from kick off as he chased and provided an outlet as well as causing problems for the entire front line.

Liverpool and Napoli need to win the game to secure their passage from the group with one game left. The Reds take on Salzburg next and that won’t be an easy task away from home.

The Austrians are good on their own turf and will come into any Champions League fixture with their tail between their legs because of how dominant they are domestically.

With three goals in the competition, Mohamed Salah is an important part of how the Reds play and this game was always going to take priority over Palace. Klopp can call from a variety of options on the right wing and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was chosen in his place, although the German could have easily turned to Divock Origi.

In future weeks Xherdan Shaqiri will be another player available for selection and that bodes well as the club go into a packed December. Protecting Salah is important and we’ll need him to provide flashes of brilliance like the one he produced to put Koulibaly on his arse.