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MOHAMED SALAH EQUALS CLUB RECORD ON THE NIGHT HE ENDS GOAL DROUGHT

Mohamed Salah equals Jamie Carragher’s record as Liverpool crush Qarabag 6-0 to secure an automatic Champions League Last 16 spot.

Mohamed Salah equals club record on the night he ends goal drought
Salah scores on record-equalling 80th appearance

Mohamed Salah finally snapped his Liverpool goal drought, helping the Reds smash Qarabag 6-0 on Wednesday night at Anfield. The win sent Liverpool straight into the Champions League last 16 and took a bit of heat off Arne Slot. Liverpool looked in control from the start—Alexis Mac Allister and Florian Wirtz both scored in the first half, setting the tone against the Azerbaijani underdogs. After halftime, Salah got the third on what was his 80th Champions League appearance for the club, matching the Liverpool record. That goal was a big deal for him—it ended an eight-game streak without scoring, his first since November 1.

During that dry spell, Salah even lost his spot in the starting lineup and publicly complained he'd been "thrown under the bus" by the club. Things got tense between him and Slot. But before heading off to the Africa Cup of Nations in December, Salah and the manager patched things up. Slot will hope this goal gets Salah firing again.

Hugo Ekitike added a fourth, then Mac Allister and Federico Chiesa finished the job, wrapping up Liverpool’s biggest win in any competition since 2023. Thanks to this, Liverpool skip the play-off round and get to host the second leg in the last 16—never a bad thing.

Slot seemed pretty happy after the game. “I’m very pleased. We know we can still improve in both boxes, but it was a very good performance,” he said. “It’s always important to get the early goals to get the crowd on our side. We know we can do even better.”

Mac Allister pointed out the bonus: “We skip two playoff games, which is important in a long season like this. In the Champions League, we’ve been better than the Premier League. We need to see the positives.”

Even after getting thrashed, Qarabag still made the play-offs, finishing 22nd.

Getting to the knockout stages was huge for Slot, who’s had to field some tough questions about Liverpool’s rocky run lately. After last weekend’s 3-2 loss at Bournemouth—Liverpool’s fifth straight game without a win in the league—Slot defended the team, saying a trophy would still make this a successful season.

But honestly, Liverpool fans are losing patience. The team sits 14 points behind Arsenal, despite winning the title last year and splashing out about £450 million on new signings.

Slot admitted the noise around the club is “fair” and said only something special in the next few months will quiet the criticism. The Champions League and FA Cup are still in play, so there’s hope.

On the night, Virgil van Dijk was Liverpool’s only healthy centre-back, so Slot threw Dutch midfielder Ryan Gravenberch into the defence. Then, just three minutes in, Jeremie Frimpong—who’s barely stayed fit all season—limped off. But Liverpool didn’t blink. They just kept going.

Problems with defending set-pieces led Slot to sack coach Aaron Briggs in December. Lewis Mahoney, who took over, drew up a corner routine that worked perfectly in the 15th minute. Ekitike flicked on Dominik Szoboszlai’s inswinger; Van Dijk couldn’t finish it, but the ball dropped for Mac Allister, who nodded it in.

Wirtz made it 2-0 six minutes later, firing home his first Champions League goal for Liverpool after arriving from Bayer Leverkusen.

Five minutes into the second half, Salah bent a beautiful free-kick into the far corner, with Szoboszlai’s back-heel setting him up. Ekitike then broke away and finished calmly for the fourth. Mac Allister tapped in the fifth, and Chiesa, who hadn’t scored since September, rounded things off in stoppage time.

FABRIZIO ROMANO CONFIRMS MLS AND SAUDI INTEREST IN MOHAMED SALAH FOR 2026

Mohamed Salah could leave Liverpool this summer! Discover the Saudi and MLS interest plus the Reds' £26m bid for Charlie Cresswell.

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Mohamed Salah Summer Exit?

Mohamed Salah’s future at Liverpool is still up in the air. Now, there’s a new club in the mix, while Liverpool is also being linked with a surprise move for a former Leeds United defender who left Elland Road for just £3.8 million.

Liverpool haven’t had the best season, but they’re still battling for a Champions League spot. Right now, they’re sixth in the Premier League, just three points off the top four. It’s always felt like a season of change at Anfield. The club dropped close to £450 million on new players, and a few big names are hitting the tail end of their careers.

Salah, now 33, is easily one of Liverpool’s all-time greats. But let’s be honest, he hasn’t looked himself this season. Even though he’s under contract until 2027, there’s a real chance he could leave this summer.

Fabrizio Romano, who’s usually spot-on with transfer news, just gave an update on Salah. More than one club wants him, and Al-Ittihad, who’ve chased him before, are still interested. On his YouTube channel, Romano said, “Clubs from Saudi Arabia will be back for Mohamed Salah in the summer transfer window. They’re going to be back in conversations. Al-Ittihad could be one of them.”

Al-Ittihad just lost stars like Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kanté. They didn’t have time to bring in another big name in January, even though they signed some good players. You get the sense that they’re still looking for a marquee signing, and Salah’s name keeps coming up.

Romano also mentioned that MLS clubs could try to lure Salah to the US. He said, “I’m told that there could be more Saudi clubs attentive and keen on Mohamed Salah. Let’s also see from the MLS if some club decided to enter the conversation and sign Mohamed Salah from Liverpool.”

He called it “an interesting summer ahead” for the Egyptian winger. So far, there haven’t been any official offers, so Salah stayed at Liverpool. But this summer? Who knows? Things could change fast.

Adding to the drama, Egyptian journalist Ismael Mahmoud says Al-Qadisiyah, another Saudi club, is likely to go after Salah too. So expect this story to keep growing.

On another front, Liverpool just agreed on a £60 million deal for Rennes defender Jeremy Jacquet, who’ll be joining next season. But apparently, they want even more options at the back. Virgil van Dijk is now 34, Ibrahima Konate’s contract runs out soon, and Joe Gomez can’t seem to stay fit. Arne Slot clearly wants to strengthen his defence.

Now, reports say Liverpool are eyeing Toulouse defender Charlie Cresswell. He moved from Leeds for £3.8 million in the summer of 2024. The Reds are supposedly preparing a bid of over €30 million (about £26 million), hoping that’ll be enough to convince Toulouse to sell.

West Ham tried to sign Cresswell back in January, so they might jump back in, and Tottenham, Chelsea, and Brighton are also watching closely.

Cresswell only played 14 times for Leeds, but he’s racked up 56 appearances for Toulouse, with seven goals and four assists – not bad for a centre-back.

STADIUM OF LIGHT STUNNED: VIRGIL VAN DIJK HEADER ENDS SUNDERLAND’S UNBEATEN HOME RECORD

Liverpool ends Sunderland's unbeaten home record: Virgil van Dijk scores as the Reds move closer to Champions League spots.

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Virgil van Dijk's header sinks Sunderland as Liverpool close gap

Arne Slot says he’s not worried about his job depending on Liverpool making the Champions League this spring, but let’s be honest, he’d rather not find out the hard way.

From what we saw here, he probably won’t have to. Liverpool finally snapped Sunderland’s unbeaten home run in the Premier League this season. Now they’re just three points behind Manchester United in fourth and two behind Chelsea in fifth. Things are heating up.

Régis Le Bris’s Sunderland side put up a real fight. They’re smart, well-drilled, and hard to break down. Still, with Florian Wirtz running the show and growing in confidence, Liverpool edged it. Virgil van Dijk’s header from Mo Salah’s corner did the trick. The only sour note for Slot? Wataru Endo picked up a nasty-looking ankle injury.

The game started sslowly Both teams looked pretty cautious, especially with the rain hammering down at the Stadium of Light. No one wanted to make an early mistake, so the first half felt tense and cagey.

Liverpool had plenty of the ball but kept running into Sunderland’s organised defence. Around the half-hour mark, Wirtz finally broke through, taking a pass from Alex Mac Allister, settling himself, and firing from the edge of the box. Robin Roefs saved that one, then breathed a sigh of relief moments later when another Wirtz effort hit the post after Andy Robertson’s cross sliced open the defence.

Wirtz started pulling the strings more and more, and Salah kept giving Reinildo something to worry about. Le Bris had reason to look a bit nervous, but Sunderland weren’t just hanging on. Their attacking movement was tricky and unpredictable, and they stayed right in the contest.

Still, you could tell they missed their captain, Granit Xhaka. He’s usually their heartbeat, but with him out injured, Enzo Le Fée dropped back next to Noah Sadiki in midfield. Le Fée read the game beautifully and broke up attack after attack, just as Wirtz began showing why Slot wanted him from Leverkusen last summer.

Right before halftime, there was a brief VAR check for a possible penalty after Brian Brobbey tangled with Ibrahima Konaté in the box. Stockley Park saw nothing wrong, but Le Bris was clearly annoyed, waving at the referee about a shirt pull.

Maybe that frustration fired Sunderland up. They came out strong after the break, seeing more of the ball and making Liverpool look a bit sluggish. Passing was off, the tempo dropped, but Sunderland couldn’t really test Alisson except for a 25-yard blast from Trai Hume that whistled just wide.

Liverpool held out through a spell of heavy pressure almost as heavy as the rain pouring down outside. Dan Ballard made a crucial block to deny Wirtz, but you could feel a goal coming. And then it did: Salah whipped in a corner, Van Dijk powered in a header, and Habib Diarra helped it over the line.

There was a long delay after that as Endo went down in real pain, his ankle twisted badly. Medical staff gave him treatment, then stretchered him off. Joe Gomez came on to replace him. A rough end to Endo’s first Premier League start of the season.

After that, Konate handled Brobbey’s physical challenge, and Nordi Mukiele wasted Sunderland’s best late chance by firing wide after escaping Robertson. Le Bris threw on all his subs, but with Curtis Jones coming off the bench and helping Liverpool see things out, Slot’s team could finally relax. At the final whistle, they celebrated with hugs, some relief, some joy, and maybe a bit of hope for what’s next.

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