Liverpool winger Mohamed Salah is in line to make his first start for the Reds since New Year's Day when Manchester City arrive at Anfield for Sunday's enticing top-of-the-table Premier League showdown.
The 31-year-old has already picked up two muscular injuries this year, but he made his most recent comeback off the bench in Thursday's 5-1 Europa League last-16 first-leg success over Sparta Prague, having a second-half goal controversially disallowed.
Barring any unforeseen complications over the weekend, Salah will finally return to Jurgen Klopp's first XI, bidding to build on an exceptional record of 29 goal contributions from as many matches this season, 19 of his own and 10 assists.
The Egypt international is no stranger to making the net bulge against Man City either, and here, Sports Mole takes a closer look at Salah's record against Pep Guardiola's outfit.
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Including his forgettable stint at Chelsea, Salah has already faced Man City on 20 occasions in all competitions, and the reigning Premier League and European champions are the 31-year-old's favourite opponent in terms of overall goal contributions.
Indeed, Salah has struck 11 goals and set up six more in his 20 meetings with Man City for 17 direct involvements - his highest tally against a single team - with Manchester United (16) being his second favourite opponent.
In fact, only against the Red Devils (12) has Salah scored more goals against than Man City, while six assists versus Guardiola's side is just one inferior to his seven against Newcastle United, Brighton & Hove Albion and Crystal Palace.
All 11 of Salah's efforts against Man City have come in Liverpool colours, and the ex-Chelsea man is therefore the joint second-highest goalscorer in this fixture, level with Sir Kenny Dalglish and only behind Ian Rush's 15 strikes.
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Salah's first taste of action against Man City came for Chelsea in the 2013-14 FA Cup, where he played 45 minutes of a 2-0 defeat to Manuel Pellegrini's side, and he would not take on the Citizens again until his debut season with Liverpool in the 2017-18 campaign.
During that sensational individual season, Salah bagged a goal and assist in a 4-3 Anfield triumph in the Premier League, before also contributing two goals and an assist to the Reds' 5-1 aggregate success in the Champions League quarter-finals.
Fast-forward to 2024, and Salah has either scored or assisted in each of his last five games against Guardiola's team in all competitions - most recently drawing a blank in the 2021-22 FA Cup semi-finals - and he has been directly involved in a goal in his last seven Premier League matches versus the Citizens.
Not since a 4-0 loss at the Etihad in July 2020 - by which point the title was already in the bag - has Salah gone without a top-flight goal or assist in this fixture, and Reds fans have to go further back to October 2018 for the last time that the Egyptian did not directly contribute to an Anfield goal against the boys in blue.
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