Mohamed Salah

Preseason friendlies are well and truly underway, and certainly, at face value, the contest between Manchester United and Liverpool stuck out among the best of the summer.

The two Premier League sides traveled to the Rajamangala National Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, where United and Liverpool debuted their new home and away jerseys, respectively. While it may seem like just another pointless preseason game, the importance of getting off to a strong start and establishing a clear style of play cannot be understated, especially for Manchester United.

How will Mohamed Salah remember the 2021-22 season? He hardly featured in the club's run to an FA Cup and EFL Cup double – logging a total of just 243 minutes across those two competitions — but Salah registered incredible numbers in the Premier League and Champions League (31 goals and 16 assists in 48 appearances) while the Reds came up agonizingly short in both competitions.

Salah's year was also soured by defeat to Sadio Mané's Senegal in both the Africa Cup of Nations final and the CAF World Cup qualifying playoffs, both of which occurred after the new year. 

Thibaut Courtois immortalized himself into the goalkeeper hall of fame with one of the greatest ever performances during Real Madrid’s 1-0 victory against Liverpool in the 2022 UEFA Champions League final.

Courtois was a one-man wall who wouldn’t have been scored on if the game lasted another 90 minutes. Liverpool in all its attacking glory was snuffed out by a 6 feet 7 inches tall Belgian with spaghetti for arms and legs.

Liverpool is still assessing the fitness of Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk ahead of Tuesday's Premier League trip to Southampton where it could close the gap on leader Manchester City to one point, manager Jürgen Klopp said on Monday.

Forward Salah and defender Van Dijk were substituted during Saturday's FA Cup final against Chelsea, which Liverpool won on penalties to lift their second trophy of the season.

Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah said they have a "score to settle" with Real Madrid after the Spanish side set up a repeat of their 2018 Champions League final by securing a comeback win against Manchester City on Wednesday.

Salah left the field in tears in the final four years ago following a heavy fall under a challenge by Sergio Ramos, with Real going on to clinch the title with a 3-1 victory.

"We have a score to settle," Salah posted on social media after Real eliminated City 6-5 on aggregate.

Liverpool's first half display against Manchester United at Anfield on Tuesday deserves its own DVD. The special features would include an option to watch every touch from Thiago and Sadio Mané, who were four or five steps ahead of the opposition at every turn. 

It was Mané's clever play in the midst of United's disorganization that led to Liverpool's opener in the fifth-minute, but his assist for Mohamed Salah on Liverpool's second in the 22nd was one of the best passes you'll see all season. 

In the Africa Cup of Nations final billed as Sadio Mané versus Mohamed Salah, it was Mané's Senegal that ultimately triumphed in a shootout on Sunday to claim its first-ever AFCON title. 

Salah individually outperformed Mané over 120 minutes of action, but two Egypt misses in the shootout denied Salah an opportunity in the fifth spot, whereas Mané made amends for an early penalty miss of his own by converting Senegal's all-important fifth attempt.