Liverpool Boss Jurgen Klopp Defends Mohamed Salah Amid Diving Accusations

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says he has not spoken to Mohamed Salah about accusations of diving against the forward.

Salah has won three penalties for Liverpool since Boxing Day—against Newcastle United, Arsenal and Brighton & Hove Albion—while in their most recent 4-3 win over Crystal Palace, he was denied one by referee Jon Moss, with many perceiving him to have dived.

Klopp spoke about the incident against Palace ahead of the Reds' clash with Leicester City on Wednesday, per Dominic King of the Daily Mail:

"If this is the first situation where he went down without [penalty], you speak about all the other situations as well. The other situations there is nothing to talk about—it is a penalty, done.

"If [Palace] is the first then why we talk then? Did anyone talk to Jamie Vardy when, I forget the opponent [Southampton], everybody saw.

"Is Jamie a bad person because of that? I don't say now he is a diver. That is another situation. You have [defenders] in the back, you are there, you feel something, do you have to go down? Probably not. I don't have to speak to players about obvious things. [Salah] knows that. Don't go down in situations like that."

Salah first attracted attention for winning the penalty against Newcastle, going down theatrically after Paul Dummett pulled his arm.

There could be little dispute against Arsenal and Brighton after he was fouled by Sokratis and Pascal Gross, leaving The Independent's Jack Pitt-Brooke surprised that he continued to face accusations:

His colleague, Ed Malyon, felt it was a clear dive when he went down in the area against the Eagles, though:

Klopp believes Salah is only under so much scrutiny because of who he plays for:

"There are other situations that are much more obvious that we don't talk about and nobody is talking about because it's not City, it's not United, it's not Liverpool, it's not Arsenal or it's not Chelsea. All the others can do it from time to time and nobody really talks about it. That's all fine."

At a club of Liverpool's stature—particularly in a season in which the Reds are pursuing the Premier League title—it's only natural the players will receive more attention than those plying their trade further down the table.

As perhaps the Reds' most high-profile player, eyes will be drawn to Salah. He's going to be in such situations more than most too because of the time he spends in the penalty area. His pace and dribbling ability also make him more likely to be fouled by defenders.

His reactions to contact can be theatrical or exaggerated at times, though, and he needs to be careful that he is not denied penalties in the future because of a reputation for diving.