Klopp accepts Salah and Liverpool are missing ‘well-drilled machine’ up front

Jürgen Klopp said Mohamed Salah’s form has suffered as the Liverpool attack is no longer functioning like a ‘well-drilled machine’. Photograph: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC/Getty Images

Jürgen Klopp has admitted Mohamed Salah’s form has suffered this season because the Liverpool attack is not functioning like a “well-drilled machine”.

Salah remains Liverpool’s leading scorer with an impressive 17 goals, seven coming in the Premier League, although he has cut an isolated figure during the team’s downturn since the start of the year. Klopp believes that is inevitable given injury problems – Salah, Darwin Núñez and Luis Díaz have played only 343 minutes together – have compounded the disruption caused by Sadio Mané’s departure to Bayern Munich and the break-up of the team’s established forward line.