Mohamed Salah’s eye for goal and preference for his left-foot have inevitably led some to draw comparisons between the Liverpool forward and Lionel Messi.

The Egyptian has 36 goals in all competitions this season, one more than the Barcelona legend, and was in rampant form as he scored four in Liverpool’s 5-0 demolition of Watford on Saturday.

Salah was unplayable at Anfield and Watford boss Javi Gracia has had his say on comparisons between the Liverpool man and Messi.

“Both are fantastic players and now Salah I think is in a very good moment,” the Hornets head coach said.

“For me, he is not the same and we have different situations. We play with a different shape, but you know always it is difficult against them (Salah and Messi).

“They can score at any moment and have a lot of quality. Players are always more important [than plans] during the game. They decide the game and make the decisions.”

Salah was the shining light in a fine display from the home side as Jurgen Klopp’s men made light work of brushing aside a below-par Watford.

Roberto Firmino also got in on the goalscoring act, back-heeling in Salah’s cross, and Liverpool were the better side across the pitch.

The heavy defeat came despite Gracia’s decision to play with three centre-backs in an attempt to stifle Klopp’s side.

Gracia believes the Reds are playing at a level which puts them among the best club sides out there and accepts it is not always possible to contain such quality.

He said: “The team in this moment is one of the best teams in Europe and it is difficult to for us to stop them as individuals or as a team.

“We tried to play a strong formation with three centre-backs to protect from this kind of situation, but today it was not possible.”