All the talk after Liverpool’s thrashing of Watford on Saturday will be about Mohamed Salah, whose incredible purple patch of form shows no sign of slowing down.
But Salah’s genius should be taken as a given now - and as such Jurgen Klopp should take more pride in another player’s performance at Vicarage Road.
Liverpool have made a brilliant start to the Premier League season. They are the only unbeaten side and their 5-0 hammering of Watford sent Klopp’s side top of the table ahead of the rest of the weekend's fixtures.
Salah’s form has been mesmerizing. Virgil van Dijk is back from injury. Trent Alexander-Arnold is at his creative best.
But one factor of Liverpool’s trademark play has been missing in the early stages of the 2021/22 season: Roberto Firmino.
Firmino has featured fairly regularly for the Reds this season, but a hamstring injury has been a constant nagging problem for the Brazilian striker.
He limped out of the 1-1 draw with Chelsea on August 28 and has not looked at his best ever since returning from his lay-off, playing mainly off the bench.
However, after a much-needed two-week international break, those cobwebs were blown away against an inviting Watford side who strangely exhibited the exact opposite of the fabled new manager bounce.
Claudio Ranieri’s side were awful, but they were up against a Liverpool team which were at their best right from the first whistle, despite Klopp’s continued protestations about the early kick-off time.
It didn’t take long for Salah to show a piece of magic. The Egyptian picked up a loose ball, span behind Danny Rose and played a inch-perfect outside-of-the-boot pass into Sadio Mane, who finished first time past Ben Foster.