Former Red believes he knows the reason for Salah’s subdued Liverpool celebrations

Mohamed Salah is finding goals harder to score for Liverpool according to former Reds forward Luis Garcia.

The Egyptian won the Premier League’s Golden Boot last season scoring 32 goals for Liverpool and added another 12 in cup competitions.

Why isn’t Salah smiling after scoring a goal? Five key things to know…

1. Mohamed Salah joined Liverpool from Roma last season and wasted no time in endearing himself to the Reds faithful.
2. The Egyptian had many a chance to celebrate in front of the Liverpool fans with 32 goals in the Premier League.
3. But, Salah has built a slight reputation of hardly smiling after scoring.
4. And Luis Garcia has attributed this to the Egyptian finding it harder to score.
5. Mohamed Salah scored 44 goals in all competitions last season, with only Lionel Messi (45) scoring more among players in Europe’s top five leagues.

This season, after a slow start, Salah has 13 goals in 23 games, with 10 in the Premier League and three in the Champions League.

Salah scored the winning goal for Liverpool against Napoli on Tuesday in the Champions League, sending his side into to the last-16 while condemning their opponents to the Europa League knockout rounds.

However, the Egyptian has caught the eye of fans for not smiling after scoring goals this season, even after netting a hat-trick against Bournemouth at the weekend.

And former Red Garcia, who won the 2005 Champions League with Liverpool, believes this is due to Salah finding scoring more difficult this season.

When asked about Salah’s lack of expression after scoring, Garcia said on BT Sport: “Well, we still don’t know.

“I think he’s not feeling the same as he did last year. Last year everything was coming easy and this year he’s struggling in a few of the games.

“[He’s] having chances and not scoring. [He’s] probably trying to prove himself and, well, today once again he done it.”

Salah’s goals have been vital for Liverpool this season, helping Jurgen Klopp’s side to the top of the Premier League, unbeaten after 16 games.

READ MORE: 14 players you may have forgotten played for Liverpool

Is Salah finding it harder to score?

With 10 goals in the Premier League this season, Salah is the division’s joint-top scorer alongside Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

The Egyptian has taken 57 shots in total so far this season, hitting the target with 27 of those efforts.

Six of Salah’s 10 goals have come from big chances, with the forward having 14 in total – the second most of any player in the Premier League this season.

In comparison, 20 of Salah’s 32 goals in the Premier League last season were scored from big chances, with the Egyptian missing a further 23.

Lovren picked up on Salah’s lack of smiles last season…

Garcia is not the first person to pick up on Salah’s celebrations, or lack of, with current Liverpool centre-back Dejan Lovren questioning the Egyptian about it at the end of last season.

In a video on Liverpool’s official YouTube channel, Lovren asked Salah why he doesn’t smile when celebrating, even after scoring a hat-trick.

The Egyptian joked it was because scoring became normal, before quickly taking it back – with a smile – because he felt it sounded too arrogant.

The post Luis Garcia: Why Mohamed Salah isn’t smiling after scoring for Liverpool appeared first on Squawka News.

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