Liverpool's 3 options to replace Salah this month as Carragher makes his choice

03 January 2024 , 07:00

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Liverpool's 3 options to replace Salah this month as Carragher makes his choice

Mohamed Salah said goodbye to Liverpool for a month by scoring a brace in their win over Newcastle.

The Egyptian scored two of their four as they blew away the Magpies at Anfield to open up a lead at the top of the Premier League. Salah, as he's been throughout his time on Merseyside, is the Reds' leading marksman and his goals will be missed whilst he's at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Whilst Salah is absent, Liverpool will look to stay at the summit, see off Arsenal in the FA Cup and put themselves into the Carabao Cup final. His contributions in the final third leave a major hole that will need to be filled temporarily.

Jurgen Klopp has continued to recycle his attacking options with Salah his only regular. Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo and Diogo Jota have all been utilised, but the Egyptian's absence could open the door for a player to show their versatility.

"It will be very interesting to see who he puts in that position," Jamie Carragher told Sky Sports. "An option could be Harvey Elliott. I think he is more of a midfield player, he lacks pace to play in the front three but he could do it. But also Szoboszlai. Liverpool have got a lot of midfield options now with Alexis Mac Allister back, Szoboszlai has played in that position for his former club."

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We take a look at both options as well as a fringe player who could get the chance to impress with the games coming thick and fast. Ben Doak would've fancied his chances of more minutes but injury has put pay to that.

Harvey Elliott

For years the youngster has been tipped for the top and he's shown that in patches. The teenager has featured in 16 of Liverpool's 20 league outings, coming up with two assists and a goal. Klopp has long shown faith in Elliott, who has regularly been used in midfield.

Harvey Elliott is highly thought of at Anfield

Earlier in his Liverpool days the former Fulham man was used out wide and showed how influential he can be during a previous loan spell at Blackburn Rovers. His creativity is well documented, but he lacks the pace of some of his team-mates and he may require the team to play differently if he is to thrive.

Dominik Szoboszlai

The Hungarian has been hugely influential since his summer move from RB Leipzig and could be asked to play from a wide role over the next month. Like Elliott he doesn't have the pace of some of Liverpool's other attackers, but his impact on games has already been highlighted.

Dominik Szoboszlai has had an instant impact since his summer move

Szoboszlai's eye for goal has seen him score four times but he did limp off in the win over Newcastle, leaving Klopp sweating on his fitness, although he hoped it was only a minor issue. Szoboszlai has played in a wide role at Leipzig and may be fancied to step up ahead of Elliott.

Fabio Carvalho

Extremely left-field but Klopp has been more than willing to put faith in individuals throughout his tenure. Carvalho was a huge hit with Fulham in the Championship, which convinced Liverpool to pursue him 18 months ago. His first season came and went and he's recently been recalled from a loan spell in Germany, which didn't go as planned.

Fabio Carvalho has just returned from an unsuccessful loan spell (Getty Images)

His potential remains obvious though and, with Carvalho clearly in need of minutes, Salah's absence could be the chance to give them to him, especially with games coming thick and fast across several tournaments. In his most productive season he scored ten times and provided eight assists. He's certainly a player the Reds should persevere with.

Samuel Meade