Issa Diop insists he has no special plans in place to stop Mohamed Salah when West Ham host Liverpool in Monday night’s clash at the London Stadium.
The Egyptian entered the weekend of fixtures as the Premier League’s current top scorer with 16 goals as he looks to retain his 2017/2018 Golden Boot award.
Jurgen Klopp’s league leaders could see their advantage chiseled down to just two points ahead of kick-off if Manchester City can beat Arsenal on Sunday.
It marks an opportunity for the Reds to restore some self-assurance and composure after allowing nerves to creep in during Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Leicester.
Hammers defender Diop will be one of the key figures tasked with trying to ensure that isn’t the case.
Speaking to whufc.com, he said: “I don’t think they are unstoppable. I’ll just play the game like any other one. We know Salah is a big player but, for me, I will prepare the same and play the game the same way.”
“Before every game I watch clips of all the strikers I am going to face so we know what they like and don’t like, but a big player like him can do anything, so he is difficult to stop, but it is not impossible!”
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Salah was confined to an unusually quiet game in mid-week as Liverpool struggled to offer any cohesion or cutting edge in the final third.
It remains to be seen whether Klopp opts to stick with his 4-2-3-1 system or revert to a 4-3-3 in light of a similarly lacklustre display from Xherdan Shaqiri against Leicester.
The frailties of Arthur Masuaku and Angelo Ogbonna on the left-hand side of defence in the 3-0 defeat to Wolves serves a temptation for Klopp to move his top-scorer back over to right of his attack.
West Ham await as ominous opponents as they seek a response to three consecutive defeats across all competitions.