'It's not superstitious!' - Liverpool hero Mohamed Salah explains why he changed boots at half-time after missing penalty against Newcastle

The Egyptian forward missed a penalty in the first-half at Anfield as his effort was saved by Martin Dubravka. This prompted Salah to emerge from the tunnel with a new pair of boots in the second half, and the change had the desired effect as he bounced back with a brace. Salah revealed after the game that he had trained with the boots he missed the penalty with the day before, and the switch was a move to clear his head ahead of the remaining 45 minutes.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the final whistle at Anfield, Salah said: "The other ones (boots), I missed the pen with, I just trained with it (them) yesterday. It’s not superstitious because you play with many boots but when I felt like it was going to play in my head it was like, ok, I’ll change the boots.

“It’s silly but I didn’t like to have that [thought] in the second half, ‘this one I didn’t score with’… I changed, made my mind calm and focused on the game. We missed a lot of chances, I missed a pen. At half-time I was like, ‘Ok, are you going to leave for the national team with that performance? Not really. I had to really focus and step up to make a difference and I managed to do so.”

Salah's brilliance steered Liverpool three points clear of second-placed Aston Villa as he netted twice in the second half in The Reds' 4-2 victory over Newcastle, including a penalty to redeem himself after the earlier miss. The Anfield stands were already buzzing with talk of a title tilt after another dominant display from Jurgen Klopp's men and Salah has insisted that the squad believes they can go all the way.

"We believe so much," Salah said on a potential title win. "We have such a good talent. They just need to work hard, nothing else. They need to express themselves in the field, play their football and if they do that, with working hard as a team… the guys work in the gym after training, practice a lot and in the game they show up like today, that’s what makes us winning."

Liverpool might have to do without the services of Salah for potentially eight matches as the Egyptian forward is now set to depart for the African Cup of Nations. He will miss the upcoming FA Cup tie against Arsenal, and a potential fourth Round tie in the competition, along with Liverpool's two-legged League Cup semi-final against Fulham. If Egypt reach the final, Salah will also be unavailable for a total of three Premier League games against Chelsea, Arsenal, and Burnley.

Salah has, however, insisted that he wants to win the AFCON after narrowly missing out on glory with Egypt in the previous edition. However, he is confident that Liverpool will continue to shine in his absence and hold onto top spot in the league.

“I want to win this competition,” Salah said when asked about AFCON. “Without me, I’m sure the (Liverpool) players will manage to win the games. We have fantastic players, really good quality. They just need to play their football. Anyone can play in my position, anyone can do what I’m doing. Everybody just needs to feel free to express themselves.”