Dominik Szoboszlai has made it clear to Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group that he wants to play with Mohamed Salah for as long as possible. Salah once again made the difference for the Reds at Southampton on Sunday.

The Egyptian King scored a second-half brace at St Mary’s to lift Liverpool from 2-1 down to a huge 3-2 win that puts them eight points clear at the top of the Premier League table.

The Reds now head into a titanic battle with Manchester City at Anfield next Sunday, knowing victory would put them 11 points clear of the reigning champions.

Before that, Liverpool will face reigning European champions Real Madrid in another high-profile Anfield match in the Champions League stage. Former manager Jurgen Klopp failed to beat the Spanish giants in six attempts.

Salah only scored twice in those encounters, both of which ended in comfortable victories for Real Madrid. And the 32-year-old will be eager to improve his record in a season in which he has 12 goals and 10 assists in 18 matches in all competitions.

As things stand, this will be Salah’s final season at the club after eight seasons. The 223-goal striker, who needs just 11 more league goals to become the Premier League’s sixth all-time top scorer, is out of contract at the end of the season.

Liverpool fans have made it clear they want the club legend to stay. A banner on the Kop refers to its new celebration and reads: “He draws a bow. Now give Mo his dough.

And after the win over Southampton, Szoboszlai – who made it 1-0 against Liverpool with his first league goal of the season – told Sky Sports: “Everyone knows Mo, he just needs to keep going. I hope to play with him as long as I can!”

Salah’s latest update on his future came earlier this month, when he posted: “The top of the table is where this club is. Nothing less. All teams win games but he doesn’t There is only one champion at the end.

“That’s what we want. Thank you for your support last night. Whatever happens, I’ll never forget the feeling of scoring at Anfield.”

Speaking after the win against Southampton, the African striker said: “It’s great (to be first). I hope we continue in this direction and also have a game against them (Man City) , so I hope we win it and go further, like 11 points, ahead of them.

“They are going through a bad period now but they will fight back, they have a great coach, great players and hopefully we can beat them and go further (away from them).”

Szoboszlai also said: “Of course it’s a great feeling, but as you say, it’s the start of the season. We still have to carry on and not think about where are City, where are Arsenal, where are are the other teams.

“Because as long as we do like we’re doing now, we’re going to keep going. You’ve seen in the last six years they (City) have won five titles. It’s never over until it’s over finished.”