Liverpool wrapped up their pre-season tour of Asia with a confident 3-1 win over Yokohama F. Marinos, but one off-pitch moment involving Mo Salah will leave supporters slightly uneasy.
Florian Wirtz grabbed his first goal in a red shirt, while Hugo Ekitike made his debut, and youngsters Trey Nyoni and Rio Ngumoha rounded off the scoring in front of over 67,000 fans in Japan.
But it was the 86th minute that had some of us scanning the footage back more than the highlights reel.
As broadcast on All Red Video, the cameras panned to the Liverpool bench late on and showed a group including Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch, Cody Gakpo, and Salah.
The Egyptian forward was calmly using a pair of scissors to cut off black strapping from around his left ankle.
Mo Salah may have picked up an injury in Japan
There didn’t appear to be any sign of pain or discomfort during the match itself or in the moment, but the fact our No.11 had been strapped at all will spark speculation about a possible knock.
Whether this was just light precautionary taping or a routine post-match removal of support is unclear – especially since we don’t know if his other ankle had the same strapping.
Still, with the new season fast approaching, any sight of Liverpool’s most influential attacker appearing to manage an ankle issue is bound to concern fans.
Liverpool fans will have to wait for a Salah update
The 32-year-old was once again the creative force in this game, linking up particularly well with Dominik Szoboszlai and setting up multiple chances – one of which led to Wirtz’s equaliser.
Our German playmaker scored with composure, while Arne Slot handed game time to multiple youngsters and returning names, with Alexis Mac Allister featuring for the first time this summer.
Wirtz has already looked sharp in pre-season, and this match only strengthened that feeling as he found space regularly and took his goal calmly.
If there are fitness doubts surrounding Salah, the £116 million signing may become even more central in the early part of the campaign.
Let’s not forget the noise around the potential arrival of Alexander Isak too, which should further lessen the burden on Salah to be our main scoring outlet.
Pre-season is, by design, a time for building rhythm – and for monitoring fitness. And while Salah’s ankle strapping may mean nothing, it’s certainly something supporters will keep an eye on over the coming weeks.