Striker Mohamed Salah made history when he scored a brace to help Liverpool beat Bournemouth 2-0 on the evening of February 1, to solidify their top spot in the Premier League. In La Liga, Real Madrid unexpectedly suffered a shock.
Premier League: Play and shop at the same time
The 24th round of the Premier League witnessed many changes not only in the results on the field, but also in the transfer deals that took place in the final days of the shopping period. Liverpool FC will have many reasons to keep striker Salah, the player who made history when he surpassed Frank Lampard to become the 6th highest scorer of all time in the tournament.
Mohamed Salah (middle) makes history in the Premier League
Photo: Reuters
Salah scored twice to help Liverpool beat Bournemouth 2-0 to secure the top spot with 56 points, 9 points ahead of second-placed Arsenal and 3rd-placed Nottingham Forest (who beat Brighton 7-0) with 9 points, but with 1 match less. Coach Arne Slot’s team is on the way to the 2024-2025 Premier League title. In the Champions League, they also entered the round of 16 early with the top spot in the group.
However, the Anfield team can lose star Salah at any time, as this player is in the final months of his contract and has not yet agreed to extend it. The 32-year-old Egyptian striker has scored a total of 25 goals in all tournaments, with 17 assists. In the Premier League alone, he has scored 21 goals and is leading the list of top scorers.
Salah is currently being recruited by Al Hilal Club in Saudi Arabia, which has just parted ways with star Neymar, and is ready to spend a huge amount of money (about 300 million euros) to replace him this summer. Therefore, if Liverpool do not act soon, they may lose their precious gem in the summer transfer window.
Meanwhile, Newcastle and Aston Villa suffered painful defeats in round 24, respectively against Fulham 1-2 and Wolverhampton 0-2, and were both active in the transfer market to strengthen their squads.
Rashford leaves MU to join Aston Villa
Photo: Reuters
Aston Villa urgently recruited two stars, Marcus Rashford from MU and Marco Asensio from PSG, both on loan. These two players are completing the procedures to soon debut for their new teams.
Newcastle sold centre-back Lloyd Kelly to Juventus shortly after the defeat to Fulham for an undisclosed fee. Newcastle’s aim is to part with surplus players to balance their finances, before they can strengthen their squad in the summer.
Real Madrid creates opportunities for Barcelona
In La Liga, Real Madrid’s winning streak suddenly slowed down when they lost shockingly to bottom-placed Espanyol with a score of 0-1 in round 22. This created conditions for Atletico Madrid (who beat Mallorca 2-0) to close in on the top spot with a gap of only 1 point (48 vs. 49).
Real Madrid suddenly experienced a shock
Photo: Reuters
Above all, Real Madrid’s loss of points will create an opportunity for their biggest rival Barcelona if they win against Alaves in the late match at 8pm on February 2 to reduce the gap to 4 points, thereby heating up the “three-horse” championship race again.
Real Madrid’s schedule is still complicated, when they meet Man City in the Champions League play-off round in February with 2 matches. Therefore, the shock of losing in La Liga will make it more difficult for coach Ancelotti and his team to maintain the top position, because they still have too many matches to play in the coming time (6 consecutive matches remaining in all competitions in February).