It’s Liverpool – and arguably Europe’s – most in-form player coming up against one of Newcastle United’s most consistent young talents at Anfield this Wednesday. It’s Mohamed Salah vs Lewis Hall in what promises to be an exciting showdown down the Reds’ right flank.
Hall could have hardly have prepared for the trip to Merseyside in better fashion, dropping a Man of the Match display in the 4-3 win over Nottingham Forest after helping himself to two assists and topping the charts across key metrics. However, the Newcastle full-back faces arguably his toughest test yet in black and white to date as he comes up against Salah in midweek.
When assessing just how good the Liverpool forward has been this season, there are countless achievements that may strike fear into the travelling Newcastle contingent. For starters, Salah has scored 25 Premier League goals this term, with Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo, Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez netting a combined 26.
The Egyptian has both scored and assisted in 42 Premier League games across his career, the most of any player in history. He also has a whopping 50 goal contributions across all competitions in this campaign alone.
Salah has netted more goals than Chelsea and Manchester United combined for the month of February and has created more chances from open play than any other player across Europe’s top five leagues this season (58). The list could really, really go on.
Eddie Howe will of course have done his homework for this one and saw first-hand how deadly Salah can be when he netted twice at St James’ Park back in December. There will also be lessons learned from similar clashes this season, when Hall and Newcastle’s defenders kept the likes of Bukayo Saka and Amad Diallo quiet.
On those occasions Newcastle had powerhouse Joelinton available, offering support to Hall defensively. Joe Willock also played his part in the early stages of the campaign as the trio proved effective both with and without the ball.
Howe was asked specifically how Newcastle go about stopping Salah this week, to which he replied: “That’s going to be a challenge for us. It’s always not down to any one individual in the team, although he will naturally come up against one opponent, it’s about the team supporting that area of the pitch.
“I think against Arsenal at home in the Carabao Cup is a great game to reflect on. We defended in twos, threes, fours. We had a mentality that we wanted to defend our goal to the highest level. I don’t think we’ve consistently had that in recent weeks but we’re going to need that in this game.”
Hall showcased his impressive attacking ability in Sunday’s win at St James’ Park but the 20-year-old has also improved going in the opposite direction too. That is the result of tireless work on the training ground, with a patient approach taken by Howe following the youngster’s initial loan move from Chelsea.
Hall is now one of the first names on the Newcastle team sheet and has the potential to hold down the spot on the left of the Magpies’ defence for years to come if he continues developing at an exciting rate.
“I think every player’s different, every player’s development from their teens to their early twenties, it’s a crucial stage if you’re gonna become a regular first-team player for a club like Newcastle, there’s a lot that goes into it,” Howe told reporters this week, when asked about Hall and Lewis Miley impressing.
“I think all players will have peaks and troughs, there’ll be good bits and bad bits, but I think as long as you’re consistent with your feedback and we try and develop and help the players as it is. That’s all we can do while giving them an environment that they can enjoy and feel comfortable in.
“These things matter. So with players like Lewis Hall, who has done incredibly well overall, if you take a view of his career at Newcastle, I think he’s been excellent. And again on Sunday I thought he attacked brilliantly in that first half with Anthony [Gordon] and with Joe Willock on that left-hand side.”
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