Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp says it's unfair to compare Mohamed Salah with Manchester City star Erling Haaland.
Salah has scored five Liverpool goals across all competitions dating back to the Community Shield in late July but the Egyptian has generally struggled to get back to the sort of levels he was last term when he registered 31 goals for Klopp's team.
Haaland brought up his 20th of the campaign for Manchester City in Saturday's 4-0 win over Southampton and his 15 Premier League goals mean the Norwegian is now just seven away from equalling the total of Salah and Tottenham's Hueng-min Son last season when they shared the Golden Boot.
"With Mo it's like it is with us," Klopp said. "I hope we are close to exploding [into form], let me say it like this. But it's not about that, you can say what you like about Mo Salah and you can say 'is he having a great season?' but it's like so many others. Whose season is it now for us? No-one yet because we have a picture in our mind of how we are and we need to use it. They are human beings.
"We need to perform as a team and make sure everyone can perform as the best version of themselves and that is the idea around the whole thing. With Mo it is like this: Even if his goalscoring numbers aren't crazy, it's always about how often he is involved in the offensive situations. It's just the problem that if you don't score around that then nobody appreciates that. Not scoring? But how about two or three key passes that are exceptional?
"As a coach my life is easier because I watch the whole game again and not only the highlights. It means I see little things as well, so for me it's fine. Nobody in the world can compare with Haaland and the situation at the moment, it is crazy what he is doing. He's an exceptional player in an exceptional team so I don't think we should compare now in this moment with that. I don't anyway, so it's all fine."
Klopp added: "Mo wants to score goals desperately, definitely, 100%. That has never changed. Call him in 20 years and it will be the same, that cannot change. But he brings himself together, from my point of view, he defended, for example, against Rangers on an incredibly high level.
"There were times were Mo defended the half-spaces, won the ball back from the opponents and it was a great situation and it showed what we had to do. You might find it if you watch the game back but from that moment on we were able to play football. If this team defends on its highest level, we are able to play some good football. That's what we have to do."
