Jamie Carragher has been criticised following a comment made about Mohamed Salah after Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Manchester City.
The Reds took another leap closer to the Premier League title with the victory at the Etihad Stadium, which saw first-half goals from Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai.
Liverpool’s first goal was a well-worked corner routine, with Alexis Mac Allister’s low cross flicked on by Szoboszlai into the path of Salah, whose effort at goal deflected off Nathan Ake and went beyond Ederson.
Szoboszlai then finished into the bottom corner from the edge of the area, after being assisted by Salah, to make it 2-0.
Arne Slot’s side are now 11 points clear of Arsenal after the Gunners lost 1-0 to West Ham on Saturday, though Mikel Arteta’s side do have a game in hand.
Speaking after the match, Liverpool legend Carragher gave his verdict on the Reds’ performance in Manchester – though one of his comments was contested by fellow Sky Sports pundits Micah Richards and Daniel Sturridge.
After Sturridge claimed that Salah is aiming to become the ‘best [player] in the world’, Carragher argued: “I think the problem [is], the fact he’s with Egypt, and he’s probably not playing in the major tournament as such, or maybe not got a great chance of winning, I think it’s either the Champions League or the major tournament.”
But Richards interjected: “Just to say, AFCON [Africa Cup of Nations] is a major tournament. Because a lot of people are at home saying, ‘They aren’t taking it serious’. AFCON is a big tournament, just so you know.”
After being asked by Carragher whether Egypt would be in contention to win the World Cup in 2026, Richards replied: “No. But AFCON is big, isn’t it? Remember when Mane and Salah were going for it?
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Sturridge added: “It’s a fact. If you win the Euros or the Copa America, it’s deemed to be big. So the AFCON’s in the same level.”
Remarkably, although Egypt are the record 17-time winners of the AFCON tournament, Salah has still never lifted the trophy himself.
Egypt last won the competition in 2010, when Salah was not yet established enough to be part of the squad, and have finished as runners-up on two occasions since then.
Taking to Twitter, one fan wrote: “Micah and Sturridge, big respect correcting Carragher there about AFCON.”
A second said: “Jamie Carragher disregarding AFCON being a major tournament, disgrace.”
A third opined: “Glad Micah and Sturridge let him know about AFCON. It’s the same as Euros and Copa [America] simples.”
