Mohamed Salah highlights huge problem for Jurgen Klopp

Liverpool star Mohamed Salah highlights a huge problem.

After being criticised for their lack of invention and penetration against Everton on Sunday, Jurgen Klopp showed the world what this side is really about.

Mohamed Salah came back into the side and scored the second of the four goals before assisting Sadio Mane for the last.

That completed the fearsome front three of Sadio Mane, Firmino and Salah. As thrilling as it was to watch, it also proves that Klopp has a huge problem on his hands.

Against Everton, Takumi Minamino was brought into the side to play on the right. It’s startlingly clear that the Japanese international is more comfortable through the middle, and this is where he played against Palace.

Just one piece of the puzzle was missing, yet it all went sideways.

There was no threat coming off the wing, no searing pace and no direct running. Even the normally reliable Trent Alexander-Arnold seemed effected.

But that means that Klopp won’t have to just replace one player when Salah isn’t available, he’ll need to rejig the entire front line. That’s not to say Firmino and Mane aren’t brilliant in their own right, because they clearly are, but something about Salah’s absence just hits home hard.

Against Everton, it could have been pure rust. On another day, Alexander-Arnold would have been better and Andy Robertson would have been available. On another day, Salah won’t really be missed.

But his performance strikes to the heart of an issue that has bothered Liverpool fans for at least a year. Our front three is so good that nobody else of equal quality wants to join because they won’t get a sniff, but the drop off between them and our reserves is too big.

This jigsaw is so finely balanced that one piece missing can derail the whole thing, and that’s a huge problem that Klopp must solve before it’s too late.