Chelsea defender Fikayo Tomori has explained the challenge of facing Mo Salah and Roberto Firmino was a serious one earlier this season in the Premier League.
The young Blues star was on the losing side as the Reds triumphed 2-1, but Chelsea played well and at the end, Liverpool were hanging on by a thread.
“I think it all came in the same game, Firmino is probably the most difficult (opponent), along with Salah,” Tomori told The Football Show, cited by Football London.
When I played against Salah, I knew he was going to run and he had such an amazing season the year before. Every time he touched it, I thought ‘this is a challenge, this is where I want to be playing’.
“I was thinking this is the chance for me to prove I can play at this level. That Liverpool game at home, we lost but I think I learned a lot from that game.”
It’s great to hear from opponents how tough it actually is to face Firmino, as often rival fans fail to appreciate his brilliance because he doesn’t score the same number of goals as other forwards in the top flight.
But his ability to drop off and create space for the likes of Salah and Sadio Mane to run into is unparalleled and the fact he plays every single game for Jurgen Klopp and has never been replaced by a goalscorer, as well as the team’s performances in the past two years, proves his greatness.
Salah is a different kind of player, but equally brilliant. The Egyptian is faster, more dynamic and better in the box – but he wouldn’t be able to achieve anything near to what he does in terms of output without the help of Firmino.