At a glance
- Liverpool legend Jan Mølby believes Mohamed Salah will continue to be the designated penalty taker for Liverpool despite recent misses.
- Salah has successfully converted 20 out of 26 penalties since joining the club in 2017.
- Mølby, known for his impressive penalty record at Liverpool, believes Salah is not prepared to give up the opportunity to score from penalties.
- Mølby mentioned Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister as potential successors to Salah in taking penalties due to their composure and ability.
- While alternatives may exist, Mølby firmly believes Salah will remain the Reds' primary penalty taker.
Liverpool legend Jan Mølby has given his verdict on Mohamed Salah's penalty-taking duties at the club.
Despite some recent misses, Mølby believes that Salah will continue to be the designated penalty taker for the foreseeable future, although he also named two players who could succeed him. Salah has been Liverpool's go-to penalty taker since joining the club in 2017.
He has successfully converted 20 out of 26 penalties during his time on Merseyside. However, with three of his last five penalties being missed or saved, questions have arisen regarding whether it is time for Jürgen Klopp to consider a new option for spot-kick duties.
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Mølby, who only missed three penalties out of 42 during his playing career at Liverpool, understands the significance of the role. He boasts an impressive success rate of 93.3 percent from the spot, second only to John Aldridge, who has a 94.4 percent success rate.
When asked about the possibility of Salah being taken off penalty duties, he said on Anfield Index's Molby On The Spot podcast: "At the moment, I can't see that.
"That would be a really big call. What do you get from the spot in a season? It could be anything between five and ten goals. I don't think Mo's prepared to give that up."
Molby, however, highlighted Salah's approach to penalties, having noticed that sometimes the Egyptian forward appears uncertain about what to do. "Mo sometimes is in doubt about what he should do," added Molby. "If he’s had a penalty that the goalkeeper got close to, almost got saved, the next time he sort of just closes his eyes and whacks it."
Regarding potential successors to Salah as penalty takers should Klopp choose to make a change, Molby mentioned two of Liverpool's summer signings. "Dominik [Szoboszlai] and [Alexis] Mac Allister," he said. "They look more to me like assured penalty takers."
Szoboszlai, who joined Liverpool for $76million (£60m), has taken 16 penalties throughout his career, missing only once. Meanwhile, Mac Allister has a similar track record, having taken 11 penalties and missed just once.
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