Salah scores landmark goal for Reds

If this is Mohamed Salah's final season at Liverpool, he is going out in style.

The Egypt striker scored his 50th European goal for Liverpool and his 22nd in all competitions this season to help Arne Slot's team secure a place in the Champions League round of 16 with a 2-1 victory over Lille on Tuesday.

"Hopefully (it's) not the last one," said Salah, whose contract expires at the end of the season and has increasingly raised the prospect that this could be his last with the Merseyside club.

Despite being at his brilliant best for a Liverpool team that is at top of the standings in the Champions League and the Premier League, the 32-year-old Salah has just months remaining until he becomes a free agent.

Salah, who signed a three-year contract in 2022, has been free to talk to clubs outside of England from Jan 1. He has indicated his preference is to stay at Liverpool but in recent months has used media interviews to voice his frustration over the failure to reach an agreement.

Earlier his month he said it was "far away" from progress.

Asked after his landmark goal against Lille if he would stay long enough to score another 50, he said: "I'm not sure about that, but I will give it my best."

What's the holdup?

That isn't clear.

At the age of 32, this could be Salah's last major contract and it isn't known how much money he would want to remain at Anfield, where he has established himself as a club icon after winning a full set of trophies including the Champions League and the Premier League since joining from Roma in 2017.

There are potential risks to giving long-term contracts to players in their 30s. But there is no sign of Salah's standards dipping. He has been pivotal to Liverpool's success this season and is currently leading the scoring charts in the Premier League ahead of Manchester City's Erling Haaland.

With his goal against Lille, he became the first Liverpool player to score 50 in European competitions.

What does Slot say?

It feels like the Liverpool manager has constantly had to field questions about the future of his star player.

After Salah's latest moment of brilliance — sweeping a shot past Lille goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier to put Liverpool 1-0 up in the 34th minute — Slot piled more praise on his striker.

"Special, I think is the word that describes Mo's performance at this club the best — or maybe there are even better words to use, but he's been outstanding for this club for so many years."

What are his options?

Salah can talk to teams outside of England and was linked with a move to Saudi Arabia in recent years.

As a free agent, he would likely have many suitors among Europe's biggest clubs.

Salah is not the only Liverpool star with an expiring contract. Captain Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold are also in the final months of their deals.

Magnificent seven

Liverpool maintained its perfect Champions League record to guarantee a top-two finish in the league phase and automatic last-16 qualification with a win at Anfield on Tuesday.

Harvey Elliott's deflected strike secured a seventh consecutive Champions League victory for Slot's men after Jonathan David canceled out Salah's opener.

Liverpool remains three points clear of Barcelona, who came from 4-2 down to beat Benfica 5-4.

Liverpool will welcome direct progress to the last 16, without the need for a play-off round, with the Premier League leader still involved in four competitions.

Slot took the chance to rotate with the Reds already all but assured of progress to the next round.

Jarell Quansah, Conor Bradley, Curtis Jones and Darwin Nunez, fresh from his match-winning contribution off the bench, came in from the side that beat Brentford 2-0 on Saturday to open up a six-point lead at the top of the Premier League.

Not for the first time this season, Liverpool's strength in depth made the difference with another winner from a substitute in Elliott, who has had to wait for his chance to shine since Slot took charge.

"The privilege of managing Liverpool is that you have more than 11 good players," said Slot.

"That's also the reason why we can compete in the Champions League, in the League Cup, FA Cup and the Premier League.

"You need more than 11 good players, and it's up to them to be ready if they get the chance, and I think Harvey showed today, with maybe a bit of a lucky goal, but his performance was good. That's also what you expect if you bring a player like him in, because he's a quality player."

Not sure 'an advantage'

A top-two finish means the Liverpool will face a side that finishes between 15th and 18th in the last 16.

However, Slot does not believe the table tells a true story given that each club faces a different draw of eight opponents in the league phase.

"We're happy that we are top eight. That's the only thing that tells me something, because this league table doesn't tell you anything," said the Dutchman.

"So normally in tennis, if you're No 1, you know if you play against the No 24, he's probably not as good as the No 16.

"But here, because we play different teams, maybe the No 24 is better than the No 16, but the No 16 had an easier draw.

"We also want to be on top of the league, but I'm not so sure. We have to wait and see if it's an advantage, let's put it that way."

Liverpool was far from its flowing best against 10-man Lille and needed a deflected strike from Elliott to maintain its winning run.

But in doing so it inflicted the French side's first defeat in 22 games in all competitions — a run that included victories over Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.

"As a manager, I'm a bit more impressed than I think the crowd was, or the people that watched the television, because they probably feel like 'oh, Lille, it's only Lille'.

"But I knew, and probably you guys (the media) as well, that they were 21 games unbeaten, that beat Real Madrid, beat Atletico Madrid.

"Without any disrespect, they don't do this with the best players in the world. So that tells you that they were very well organized and difficult to play through, and it's a hard-working team, so it's not so easy."

AFP