Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has made it clear he currently sees Mohamed Salah as his third-most important forward, claims former Reds striker Michael Owen.
Owen was speaking ahead of Liverpool’s Champions League group stage clash at home to Genk on Tuesday.
Salah started the match, with Mane and Firmino dropping to the bench ahead of Sunday’s much-awaited match against Premier League title rivals Manchester City.
Owen says Klopp may have played Salah to try and give him some confidence.
But he reckons it shows he is happier to risk being without the Egyptian against City more than both Mane and Firmino.
“Well a couple of things [why Salah started against Genk],” Owen said on BT Sport.
“It gives, maybe, Salah a bit of confidence by maybe scoring tonight.
“But secondly, at the moment if you’re Jurgen Klopp and you say ‘right, you can have one striker this weekend against Man City’, it’s Firmino or Mane, probably Mane at the minute with the form he’s in, then you say your second one you’d probably say Firmino.
“That’s where Salah finds himself, he’s the third out of the three.
“Listen, in a month’s time it could be ‘no, Salah’s [the most important]’.
“There’s nothing between them, they’re three of the most top-class players.”
Salah has scored eight goals so far this season, two less than Mane and five more than Firmino.
Former Liverpool striker Peter Crouch agrees with Owen but also says Salah may just be desperate to keep his goal tally going in the right direction.
“I agree with that but also get the impression that Salah wants to play in every single game,” Crouch said.
“I feel like for his totals, for the amount of goals he wants, I feel like he wants to play every game.
“So I do agree with that, I think Mane’s probably the most in-form out of the three at the moment.”