If Pep Guardiola had a reason to drop Kyle Walker, allowing Cody Gakpo to run through to an unguarded back post so he could score Liverpool's opener on Sunday is as good as any. However, the Manchester City veteran has received backing from the unlikeliest of sources - Mohamed Salah.

Man City were beaten by their long-term Premier League title rivals 2-0 at the weekend, which left them 11 points adrift of the Reds, who are up top. Truthfully, it was a toothless performance throughout the squad, and it also allowed Arsenal, Chelsea and Brighton to get ahead.

Now on a seven-game winless streak, the injury-hit squad's mentality is diminishing - a stark contrast to the same group of players that have often shown no signs of weakness in title-winning campaigns.

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One of those crumbling is 34-year-old Walker. The full-back has seemingly lost a yard of pace to deal with opposite wingers such as Gakpo, which was seen as he stood unaware in the penalty area before turning around to see the Dutchman tap-in with 12 minutes played.

The week before that he was outpaced by Tottenham's Timo Werner for one of the goals in that forgetful 4-0 romp, and these are not the only two examples of shortcomings involving the Englishman.

Guardiola, who proved a point as he dropped goalkeeper Ederson for the Anfield trip following his own string of errors in November, could therefore be forced into a similar decision if he is to mastermind a way for Man City to close the gap on Liverpool.

Yet Reds talisman Salah has surprisingly put some amount of trust in his rival Walker to bounce back from his nightmare playing against Liverpool by adding the defender to his Fantasy Premier League team. Man City next play Nottingham Forest in the English top-flight on Wednesday night.

Of course it will not be the Egyptian's choice who starts and who doesn't at the Etihad Stadium - that falls to Guardiola. The Liverpool player should also lose little sleep if the Spaniard is unable to rectify his club's difficulties any time soon.