Michael Owen hailed one Liverpool player as ‘a model professional’ following the Reds’ 4-0 win over LASK at Anfield on Thursday night.
The Reds cruised into the Europa League round of 16, ensuring top spot in the group thanks to their result and the draw between Toulouse and Union Saint-Gilloise.
Mo Salah was inevitably among the LFC goalscorers, his penalty just after half-time taking him to within one goal of hitting 200 for the club.
Speaking on punditry duty for TNT Sports, Owen was raving about the dedication and professionalism of the 31-year-old, saying: “It’s not going to be long until he hits another landmark. He’s just been an incredible player. His consistency has been out of this world, in terms of his goals, his performances, his durability.
“He just doesn’t ever get injured. He lives in the gym, he’s so dedicated – he’s a model professional for anyone to look at.”
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Salah is indeed one of the most extraordinarily consistent players in world football, having struck a minimum of 23 goals in each of his six full seasons at Liverpool so far, a record he’s well on course to maintain this term with 13 to his name by the end of November (Transfermarkt).
He keeps himself in remarkably good shape, as was gloriously seen when he whipped off his shirt in celebration when scoring in the 7-0 thrashing of Manchester United earlier this year, duly displaying his ripped physique.
He turns 32 next summer, an age at which many footballers might begin to show signs of coming down off their peak. However, such is the Egyptian’s brilliance that he isn’t likely to wane for another few years yet.
Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Luka Modric, Robert Lewandowski and Zlatan Ibrahimovic all continued to excel well into their 30s, and Salah looks like he’ll do the very same.
Hopefully that’ll still be in a Liverpool shirt, with the rumours over a possible move to Saudi Arabia next year not going away. Knowing Mo, however, he’ll have his sights set on smashing a few more unprecedented scoring feats at Anfield.
#Ep96 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Neil Jones🎙️