Mohamed Salah and Hugo Ekitike haven't been able to strike up 'any type' of attacking partnership according to Peter Crouch, but the ex-Liverpool forward is still backing his former club to overcome Galatasaray in the Champions League.
Both Salah and Ekitike began the first leg of the last-16 tie in Istanbul last week, but the Egyptian was substituted after an hour and Ekitike missed a golden chance to score an equaliser in the 1-0 defeat to the Turkish champions.
The pair were then left on the bench for Sunday's Premier League meeting with Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield, but after both coming on in the second half when the Reds were one goal ahead, they were unable to force a second before Richarlison's late equaliser for the relegation-threatened visitors.
The duo are expected to return to the starting line-up on Wednesday, and Crouch feels Liverpool should feel fortunate that they aren't further behind in the tie.
“It could have been worse in the first leg," Crouch told Paddy Power. They were poor again and I think they’ve been pretty poor all season. They've had a little spell where they've picked up a little bit.
"Salah has been really disappointing considering his performances last year. Ekitike is kind of a hit, but him and Salah haven't connected in any type of way.
"Galatasaray were good for their win, they deserved it, but I wouldn’t write Liverpool off in the second leg, certainly at Anfield they’ve done it before. It’s a difficult place to go [Galatasaray], but I think they'll be able to get that tie done in the second leg.”
While the Reds have underperformed this season, Crouch feels it is more of a shift in thinking which is needed rather than a large overhaul of players this summer.
“The players are there, [Ryan] Gravenberch, [Alexis] Mac Allister, [Dominik] Szoboszlai, [Florian] Wirtz, these are good players," he continued.
"There’s been a little bit of uncertainty I suppose, I think when you suddenly lose the fullbacks, their form dropped. [Alexander] Isak’s been injured, Wirtz took time to settle, there is definitely a transitional period. But I look around the team and they've got some really good players.
“I wouldn't make wholesale changes, but I think changes to the mentality are needed. They’ve needed a centre half alongside Virgil van Dijk for a long time, they're still relying on [Joe] Gomez at times at Right Back. There's more than enough quality there to get through the Champions League games.”
Peter Crouch was speaking exclusively to Paddy Power
