Liverpool 0-0 Stoke City: 5 Talking Points

#3 Eric Pieters keeps Salah in check

Pieters did everything in his capacity to stop Salah

Against the worst defence in the Premier League (65 goals conceded this season), Mohamed Salah must have been licking his lips to improve his goal tally. But he came up against the Stoke fullback Eric Pieters who, barring one incident early in the first half, never let Salah go.

Pieters man marked Salah until the Egyptian was playing on the right flank and kept his influence on the game to a bare minimum.

Unlike many teams or defenders this season, Pieters never gave Salah the chance to use his pace and using his physicality, kept the prolific scorer in check.

Pieters also used all the dirty tricks in the book to irritate the forward and make him frustrated.

He pulled his shirt, literally held his hand on one instance to stop him and gave him a rough treatment. Pieters, in the end, was successful in his methods as Salah was then made to play as a striker to have more influence on the game.

First time since Boxing Day that Mo Salah has started a game at Anfield and not scored #LFC

— James Pearce (@JamesPearceEcho) April 28, 2018