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Klopp enters Salah, Ronaldo debate as Liverpool star thwarts Man Utd man in one area

Jurgen Klopp reluctantly dipped into a comparison between Mohamed Salah and Cristiano Ronaldo, insisting that his Liverpool star is better than Ronaldo in one area.

Both players will be on show – likely from the start – in the Premier League on Sunday. Klopp takes his Liverpool team to Old Trafford to face a Manchester United side who have struggled at home of late.

Salah and Ronaldo have enjoyed strong goalscoring starts to the season. The former has netted 12 goals in 11 games, while Ronaldo has six in nine.

However, Ronaldo has stolen the show with some of his strikes. Indeed, he has scored two late winners for United to save them in the Champions League – including on Wednesday.

Asked to compare the two, Klopp insisted that Salah has a better left foot than his fellow forward.

“Why should we compare? Both are world-class. I would say Ronaldo’s right foot is not that bad, but Mo’s left foot is better,” he told reporters.

“Cristiano may be better in the air and with his right foot is probably better. Speed-wise, they are both pretty quick and desperate to score goals.

“I’ve never really thought about that, I’m not too interested in comparing, sorry.”

Nevertheless, Salah has definitely improved against United in recent seasons. While he struggled initially against the Red Devils, he netted his first goal against them in January 2020.

Since then, he has got three more goals, including one in last season’s 4-2 win at Old Trafford and two in the FA Cup fourth-round clash last season.

Salah’s goal record this season – netting in all of his last nine games – is symptomatic of a Liverpool team which is freely scoring goals.

Klopp talks Liverpool goalscoring run

“It helps but we’re not just relying on our goalscoring skills,” Klopp said.

“It’s more a coincidence we’ve scored that often, in a row it’s quite strange we’ve done that.

“It’s perfectly fine to win 1-0 and keep a clean sheet.”

Despite their win there last season, Liverpool have largely struggled at Old Trafford and their most recent win before that came in 2014 under Brendan Rodgers.

As Man Utd struggle, can Spurs, Arsenal or Leicester gatecrash the Premier League’s top four?

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