Jaded Mo Salah playing himself out of Ballon d’Or contention as Liverpool labour towards the finish line

With the finish line in sight, Liverpool’s legs are starting to wobble — and no player looks quite as jaded as the leader of their attack.

Yesterday’s meeting with Fulham brought about Liverpool’s third defeat in four matches in all competitions, and was the seventh consecutive club game in which Salah has been unable to score from open play. There can be no doubt that his form is dipping.

You could argue, of course, that Salah has done the hard work already. If he completes this campaign without another goal or assist, he will still have 27 goals and 17 assists in the league.

Those numbers are proof of an astonishingly successful individual season. But for Salah, perhaps more than any other Liverpool player, it matters how this campaign ends. It matters how he performs, how he shines and how he leads his team.

Why? For two reasons. The first is his pursuit of the various player of the year awards, and the Ballon d’Or especially. At this rate, the 32-year-old might just be at risk of playing himself out of contention, if he has not already done so in the battle for the Ballon d’Or. Liverpool’s Champions League exit to Paris St-Germain was hugely damaging in that regard.

The second reason is his contractual situation. ...
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