Salah finds goalscoring touch to lift Liverpool

By his own astronomically high standards, this season has been disappointing for Mohamed Salah as he and Liverpool have struggled, but in one rampant showing at Rangers on Tuesday both player and club rediscovered their spark.

Tipped to be Manchester City's main Premier League title challengers again this term, Liverpool have suffered their worst start to a domestic season in a decade, having amassed just 10 points from their opening eight fixtures.

Salah's lack of goals has perhaps been one of the reasons for their slump.

Two from eight starts is not form you would usually associate with a player who averages 0.61 goals in the Premier League, but the Egyptian's struggles have matched his team's woes.

Form, however, is only temporary. Salah and Liverpool were in dire need of a lift with champions Manchester City next up at Anfield on Sunday. The quickest hat-trick in Champions League history from substitute Salah in a 7-1 success was just what the doctor ordered.

"We usually drink a beer after away games, it's that long since I drank we'll probably be drunk after one," a buoyant Juergen Klopp joked after the match.

"The relief is big. All the effort is paying off. We all know when it is running for Mo (Salah) he is exceptional, absolutely exceptional. Obviously it was a different position for him tonight, coming on.

"I hope for him everything works for him from now on, like I hope it does for us."

With Salah left on the bench for the first time this term, Klopp went for a more youthful Liverpool lineup as he looked to put his side on the verge of the last 16 against Rangers, and forget their domestic struggles.

It looked like the gamble had backfired as Liverpool conceded first for the eighth time this season in the first half at a bouncing Ibrox, before a double from Roberto Firmino turned the match on its head.

Even after close-season signing Darwin Nunez did his confidence a world of good with a fine finish to make it 3-1, Liverpool did not look overly convincing, until Salah entered the fray.

The defending left much to be desired from Rangers, but the way Salah stroked the ball into the net, especially for his treble-clinching third, was reminiscent of the Egyptian at his best.

It will take a special performance for Liverpool to end City's unbeaten start to the season on Sunday, but the chances of Salah making another telling contribution in this blockbuster clash look more promising now.