Jurgen Klopp opens up on incident with Mohamed Salah in Liverpool's 2-2 draw against West Ham United
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has opened up on his surprise argument with star attacker Mohamed Salah in his side's 2-2 Premier League stalemate at West Ham United on Saturday (April 27).
After losing 2-0 at Everton earlier this week, the Reds' ongoing title challenge took a big blow during their visit to London Stadium. Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio scored on either side of Andrew Robertson's goal and Alphonso Areola's own goal in a thrilling game.
Salah, who did not start the clash, got involved in a war of words with Klopp before coming on as a substitute in the 79th minute. He purportedly reacted in a negative way to something the German whispered in his ear and had to be held back by his club teammates.
After the end of the Premier League contest in London, Klopp was queried to shed light on the heated incident involving the 96-cap Egypt international. He replied (h/t Fabrizio Romano):
"We spoke about that moment in the dressing room with the lads, it's done."
Asked if Salah considered the matter to be closed, Klopp responded:
"Yes, that's my feeling."
However, the former Chelsea and AS Roma ace provided a cryptic response when asked to opine on the altercation. He responded:
"If I speak today, there will be fire."
Salah, who has bagged just one goal in his past eight matches, failed to have any impact on Liverpool's recent match. The 31-year-old completed eight of 10 passes, and registered zero shots in 11 minutes.
So far this season, Salah has scored 24 goals and laid out 13 assists in 41 games across competitions for Liverpool. He is next likely to be in action in his side's clash against Tottenham Hotspur on May 5.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp offers two cents on ongoing Premier League title race
At a post-game interaction, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp was asked to opine on his team's chances of lifting the 2023-24 Premier League title. The 56-year-old replied (h/t X/@AnfieldSector):
"I'm not in the mood to talk about that to be honest or look at that at all. We had to win here, we knew that, and we didn't, and now we have a little bit more time between now and the next game. We will try to get the boys ready again and we will go again."
While Liverpool are third with 75 points from 35 outings, Arsenal are atop the table with 77 points from 34 matches so far. Defending champions Manchester City are second with 76 points from 33 games.
After hosting Tottenham Hotspur on May 5, the Merseyside club will take on Aston Villa on May 13 and then Wolverhampton Wanderers.