Mohamed Salah ‘hates’ penalties – so now is the time for Liverpool to find a new spot-kick king
Mohamed Salah says he “hates” taking penalties, but he might not have to worry about doing so any more.
Salah covered his face with his shirt after sliding his effort wide of Aaron Ramsdale’s right-hand post, and well he might. It was the 30-year-old’s second penalty miss in the space of four matches – he also missed the target during the 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth last month.
And while Klopp understandably refused to criticise his star man after the Arsenal game, the Liverpool boss now has a decision to make over who will step up the next time his side his side are awarded a spot-kick.
Salah’s penalty record at Anfield is, on the face of things, not too bad. He has scored 24 of his 29 efforts, his success rate of 82.76% placing him ahead of the likes of Steven Gerrard, Robbie Fowler, John Barnes and Phil Neal, all of whom were renowned for taking big penalties for the club.
Of Salah’s five misses, though, four have come since the start of the 2021-22 season. He has actually failed with four of his last 11 efforts, a success rate of just 63.6 percent.
He was denied by AC Milan’s Mike Maignan in the Champions League in September 2021, and again by Kasper Schmeichel as Liverpool lost at Leicester in the Premier League that December. That defeat, one of only two the Reds suffered in the league all season, ultimately proved costly come the end of the campaign.
It may well prove a similar story this time around. Salah’s misses against Bournemouth and Arsenal have cost the Reds crucial points, points they can ill afford to lose in the race for the top four. Both came with his side trailing but in the ascendency, and it is not hard to imagine that, had he scored, Liverpool would have won both games.
