'Special' Mohamed Salah leaves Arne Slot purring after draw

Liverpool boss Arne Slot hailed "special" Mohamed Salah after seeing him fire the Premier League leaders to the brink of victory at Newcastle.

The Reds ultimately left St James' Park with only a point after Fabian Schar snatched a 3-3 draw at the end of a pulsating encounter, but Salah’s double – his 14th and 15th goals of the season – transformed a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead before the Switzerland defender’s late intervention.

The 32-year-old Egypt international’s future at Anfield remains a topic of debate with his current contract running down.

Asked about Salah’s future, Slot said: "It’s difficult for me to predict the long-term future, but the only thing I can expect or predict is that he is in a very good place at the moment.

"He plays in a very good team that provides him with good opportunities and then he is able to do special things.

"And what makes him for me even more special is that in the first hour or before we scored to make it 1-1, you thought, 'He’s not playing his best game today’, and to then come up with a half-hour or 45 minutes – I don’t know how long it was – afterwards with an assist, two goals, having a shot on the bar, being a constant threat, that is something not many players can do if they’ve played the first hour like he did.

"That is also what makes him special. If you just look at the goals, his finish is so clinical. He’s a special player, but that’s what we all know."

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Salah did indeed endure a quiet opening 45 minutes by his standards and it was the