Mohamed Salah sends Liverpool clear at the top ahead of AFCON with Egypt

Mohamed Salah helped Liverpool to victory over Newcastle in the Premier League on Monday in his final game before joining up with Egypt for the Africa Cup of Nations.

Salah scored a brace and assisted another after missing a first-half penalty at Anfield as Liverpool ran out 4-2 winners in a New Year’s Day thriller on Merseyside to move three points clear at the top.

“It’s a great result for us. The game was very intense and we managed to pick up three points and now we are top of the table. We need to stay calm and win every game,” Salah told Sky Sports post-match.

He added: “We believe a lot. We need to work hard and express ourselves on the field. If we manage to do that and work hard then we can keep winning.

“I missed the pen - I didn’t want to leave with national team with that performance. The first one I was confused because the goalkeeper moved, but the second one I did like I did in training.”

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Van Dijk: It’s too early for title talk

Liverpool defender Virgil Van Dijk also spoke after the win and dismissed title talk, saying: “It’s far too early to do that. If in February/March we are still up there, obviously we have to get the last push going and see if we can squeeze it out, but for now we just focus on the game ahead, don’t look at others and try to improve ourselves.

“That’s always been the experience and it brought us one success over the last six years to win the Premier League and hopefully we will see what happens at the end of the season.”