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Watch: Moment Mohamed Salah handed a ‘new legendary’ Liverpool jersey number as Jurgen Klopp makes final decision
Watch Moment Mohamed Salah handed a ‘new legendary’ Liverpool jersey number as Jurgen Klopp makes final decision
Liverpool quickly put Tuesday’s humiliating loss to Manchester United behind them and came back to upset Crystal Palace in Singapore on Friday to earn their first preseason victory.
Jordan Henderson and Mohamed Salah scored a goal in each half to give the Reds a comfortable 2-0 victory, but Jurgen Klopp’s team suffered a setback when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was injured just before halftime.
The England international joins Diogo Jota, Alisson Becker, Joe Gomez, Calvin Ramsay, and Caoimhin Kelleher in the injured list after the ailment was later determined to be a hamstring problem.
Klopp employed 32 players against the Eagles, altering his starting lineup completely at halftime, and Liverpool won, taking home the Standard Chartered Singapore Trophy.
Of course, you already knew that. Here are some highlights from the Reds’ second preseason game that you might have missed away from the main action.
Mo Salah appears as the No.10 on the Official teamsheet 🤔
Could just be a mistake! pic.twitter.com/i2iLcXdLqA
— Anfield Edition (@AnfieldEdition) July 15, 2022
Salah’s new shirt number
Thanks to football greats like Pele, Diego Maradona, and Lionel Messi, the number 10 jersey is the most coveted in the sport. But now that Sadio Mane has departed for Bayern Munich, Liverpool’s number is empty.
For the first time in Premier League history, the jersey went unclaimed at the beginning of a season. Over the past few years, great players have worn it, with the Senegalese inheriting it from Philippe Coutinho and two of its most illustrious previous owners in Michael Owen and John Barnes.
Once the team roster was released, however, there was almost another Liverpool number 10 in Singapore because Mohamed Salah was listed as donning the number 10 rather than his customary number 11.
Given that he wears the Egypt shirt, it wasn’t out of the question that the forward had switched.
And given that Mane picked it up after Coutinho left, was the 30-year-old forward imitating his former partner?
The final teamsheet for the Singapore Trophy did not unexpectedly show that Salah had claimed the most recognizable jersey number.
Instead, it was a simple typo, as video from the locker room was shortly posted on the club’s social media pages and showed his name on his customary shirt.
And although though he didn’t wear jersey number 10 in Singapore, Klopp’s final nine replacements left him as the oldest player on the field, allowing him to end the game as Liverpool captain.
In other news, (VIDEO) Watch Full Highlights of Liverpool 2-0 Crystal Palace Preseason