Liverpool head coach Arne Slot admits his side do have a slight overreliance on Mohamed Salah but is confident he has alternatives in his squad.
The forward has been in stunning form this season, scoring 13 goals in 20 appearances across all competitions.
While the Reds boast a number of options up front and have hardly struggled for firepower this season, Salah has bagged 11 of their 26 Premier League goals.
That tally stands at just over 42% and three of them directly resulted in Liverpool winning the game.
Much has been made about the forward’s future, too. Salah is out of contract at the end of the season and last month revealed he was yet to have received an offer from the club.
“I haven’t received any offers yet to stay in the club,” he said after the 3-2 win over Southampton in late November.
“I’m probably more out than in.
“You know I have been in the club for many years. There is no club like this. But in the end it is not in my hands. As I said before, it is December and I haven’t received anything yet about my future.”
Liverpool FC via Getty Images
It remains to be seen if the Egyptian international does sign a new deal amid reports French giants Paris Saint-Germain are keen to sign him, though it seems certain he will stay until at least the end of the season.
Slot believes summer signing Federico Chiesa and the returning Harvey Elliott do offer alternatives on the right wing should Salah get injured or potentially leave at the end of the current campaign.
Italy international Chiesa joined Liverpool this summer in a surprise deal from Juventus but has made only three appearances thus far. Elliott, meanwhile, is only just returning to the squad after a fractured foot injury suffered in September.
Asked about an overreliance on Salah, Slot said: “A bit, but only for the fact that – he’s a human being and it happened to him last season – he can get an injury.
“Since Federico Chiesa has had a difficult start at the club because of injuries, we don’t really have a replacement for Mo.
“The good thing is Harvey Elliott is getting fitter and he played this position many times as well.
“I’m not afraid Mo’s numbers will drop at all, but when it comes to an injury, then we are in a better position on the left wing than we are on the right.
AP
“The good thing is Federico is also training with us again. He’s getting back and Harvey is getting back, but the best thing that can happen for us is that Mo stays fit and keeps producing these numbers.”
Speaking ahead of Wednesday’s clash with Newcastle, Slot was also asked about potential plans for the January transfer window.
“We are having discussions every day, no matter if there is a window coming up or not. We always talk about the team; which players we like, which players are maybe not in the best place”, he said.
“Fortunately, we talk more about the ones that do well because almost all of them do really well.
“It is a bit of a worry that three defenders are out at the moment, but the good thing is that, if the window opens, the defenders are back.
“I said many times at the beginning of this season that I’m so, so happy with the squad we have, but that’s not to say that, if there is a chance in the market, this club has always shown that they will go for it.
“That’s what we did with the goalkeeper [Giorgi Mamardashvili] who is not even with us at the moment, but we felt it was a chance for us to do it.”
Liverpool will likely be without Chiesa, Ibrahima Konate, Alisson Becker, Conor Bradley, Kostas Tsimikas and Diogo Jota for their trip to St James’ Park.
