LONDON, April 3, 2018 (News agencies) - Liverpool's manager Jurgen Klopp has backed Mohamed Salah to win the Player of the Year Award in recognition of his goal scoring, urging the Liverpool star to enhance his chances by continuing his stunning form. "I think Mo would deserve it 100 per cent," Klopp said. "As his manager, I'd say, ‘come on, prove it by playing at this level for the rest of the season'. That's how it is. The Egyptian struck an 84th-minute winner for the Reds at Crystal Palace last Saturday to upgrade his statistics to 37 goals in 42 appearances since joining the club last summer. Many suggest it will be a straight fight between Salah and Manchester City's Kevin de Bruyne when individual accolades are handed out at the end of the campaign. The two men are set to be key protagonists as Liverpool and City face off in the Champions League quarter-finals, too, with the first leg at Anfield on Wednesday night.And while Klopp is backing his own player for top recognition, the boss argued Salah can hammer home his claim by maintaining such prolific levels until May. "Both players have played an outstanding season with obvious highlights; scoring goals and creating chances – which is what everyone wants to see. I am happy that I don't have to make this decision. Yes, Mo would deserve it. But if I said now that Kevin de Bruyne should have no chance I'd be lying. He's a fantastic player and City will be champions, so he has a trophy. Maybe we can at least win the other one." Salah and De Bruyne will face each other on Wednesday evening in the first leg of a UEFA Champions League quarterfinal. Mane praises Salah, says 'great player' Sadio Mane believes Salah can make an impact at Anfield as Liverpool look to beat City for the second time this season.And Mane, who kick-started Liverpool's come-from-behind win at Selhurst Park with a well-taken equaliser early in the second half, is confident that his teammate Mo Salah can continue scoring as Klopp's side strive to progress in the Champions League and seal a top-four finish domestically. "Mo can make the difference in tight games," the Senegal international told Liverpool Echo newspaper."He's a great player and he helps us to win games. He showed his quality. Everybody is happy to have Mo in the team. We are going to help him to score even more goals for us. We want to give him more assists." Next up for Liverpool is the first leg of their mouth-watering Champions League quarter-final tie with Manchester City at Anfield on Wednesday. "City is a very big game but everything is possible," Mane continued. "We play at Anfield. We're going to do our best." Despite being behind at half-time versus Palace, Mane remained upbeat about the Reds' chances of mounting a fightback that eventually transpired courtesy of goals from himself and Salah. "I'm someone who believes in myself, and I believe in the qualities of my teammates," the forward said. "I know what they can do. At 1-0 down I was thinking ‘we can come back'. We did the job.We got our reward in the end and we deserved to win. It's a big step towards the top four. We are going to take it game by game."
