Arne Slot believes Mohamed Salah’s chances of claiming the Ballon d'Or will greatly improve if Liverpool win a major trophy this season.
The Egyptian is one of the contenders for the individual prize having already scored 30 goals and provided 21 assists in 38 matches for Liverpool across all competitions this season.
"I think in general someone who wins the Ballon d'Or needs to win something as well so it's a great challenge that is in front of us and in front of him," Slot told the club’s official website ahead of Wednesday’s home match with Newcastle United.
"What I liked a lot is that he takes this challenge – not only by scoring a big goal and a great assist against [Manchester] City but he also wanted the team to win, because his defensive work-rate, especially in the second half, was outstanding.
"I think that is what it takes for us to have a chance of winning something, and if we as a team can win something, he will have a far more better chance to win an individual prize like the Ballon d'Or."
Slot was asked whether Salah's exceptional form makes it easier or harder to extend the Egyptian's contract, which expires at the end of this season.
"You can look it both ways," said Slot. "You can say, 'The better he does, the more expensive he might become', and if he were to do really worse we would have second thoughts if we wanted to extend his contract.
"I think for everyone it's the best that he brings in the performances he does now. Maybe only for the one who has to pay him it's not the best, but for everyone else it's the best because if you want to play at this club you need to be at his level.
"He needs to have these performances for him to play here, and hopefully to extend here."
Liverpool’s 2-0 win at Man City on Sunday gave them a commanding 11-point lead at the top of the table, but Slot is keen to stress that the title race is far from over.
“I don't think it's necessary [for me to tell the players]," he said. "These players are so long in this competition – even much longer than me – so they know how difficult every single game is and if you have to play 11 that it's still a long way to go.”
Slot hails Isak
Slot is aware of the threat that Newcastle’s in-form forward Alexander Isak poses to his side on Wednesday but is confident his centre-back pairing of Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate can deal with the Swede, who has scored 19 Premier League goals this season.
"It's an understatement to say that he's in fine form. I think he's in excellent form," said Slot.
"Also over there it's the team performance that will help us [in] controlling him. So the more ball possession we have, the easier it is to control him, although he is definitely a threat on the counter-attack as well.
“We've got two very, very, very good centre-backs, and that's definitely what you need if you face a striker with the quality of Alexander Isak.”
Alexis Mac Allister is expected to be fit to face Newcastle despite sustaining bruising to his face against Man City. However, Conor Bradley misses out.
“He is out for a few weeks," said Slot. "I cannot tell exactly how many but it is clear that he went off with a muscle injury and that it is going to take a while before he is back.”
Howe: We need to be close to perfect
Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe is aware of the challenge that lies ahead for his team at Anfield as the Magpies aim to move into the top four.
"We need to be close to a perfect game from our perspective," he said.
"Learning from the recent game against Manchester City (the 4-0 defeat) would be a good starting point for us, where we didn't execute the aggressive game-plan that we wanted and we don't attack the game well enough.
"We need to learn from that at Anfield, which is a great environment to play football in but not good if you're not totally there.
"We have to acknowledge that and make sure we turn up. Psychologically it's huge. It's an emotional stadium. We're going to need to start well, and we need to have a threat in the game."
Just as Slot has highlighted the threat of Isak, Howe has discussed the problems his team will face against Salah, who has scored 10 Premier League goals against Newcastle.
"That's going to be a challenge for us," said Howe. "It's always not down to any one individual in the team, although he will naturally come up against one opponent. It's about the team supporting that area of the pitch."
