Mohamed Salah says Liverpool must embrace the pressure of the Premier League title race, admitting “everybody is nervous” during the final few months of the season.
The Reds can retake top spot in the table with victory over Manchester United on Sunday, with Salah key to their challenge so far.
For the seventh consecutive season at Liverpool, the Egyptian has surpassed the 20-goal milestone in all competitions, a feat unprecedented in the club’s illustrious history of prolific strikers.
The relentlessness of title rivals Arsenal and Manchester City, both of whom won on Saturday, means every game is a must-win for Liverpool in Jurgen Klopp’s final season in charge and Salah says the best way to deal with it is head on.
He said in an interview with Liverpool’s website: “I think the main thing for me is everybody is nervous, it’s not just me, everybody feels stressed. So the main thing is to control your emotions in that time.
“The main problem for us as a player is we just try to run away from that emotion, try to really feel that it’s not real or something. But at the end of the day, if you accept it and you impress it and you deal with it in the best possible way, that’s how you’re going to handle this situation.
“Of course I do a lot of yoga and also meditation – it helps a lot. But you need to accept your emotions.”
Salah is only three goals behind Erling Haaland on 19 in the Premier League Golden Boot race and has also contributed nine assists so far in 2023/24. He was hooked against Sheffield United after an hour without making a contribution but will be up for Sunday’s clash with Man Utd, having scored 13 goals against the Red Devils from 14 previous appearances.