Brendan Rodgers has hit out at Jurgen Klopp’s criticisms of Hamza Choudhury.
Choudhury’s challenge on Mohamed Salah during Liverpool’s win over Leicester City led to the Egyptian missing last weekend’s draw at Manchester United.
Klopp took issue with the incident and alluded to the midfielder’s previous tackle on Newcastle’s Matt Ritchie, saying ‘This is not the first situation like this’.
But Rodgers believes that Choudhury has been unfairly castigated for the foul.
He said: “The reaction to Hamza was right over the top for me. The boy went in to make a tackle.
“Mo Salah is a world-class player but you can tackle him. It wasn’t even a bad tackle.
“You have to ensure they stay aggressive because that is their game, without overstepping the line. If you look at the team we play in an aggressive but sporting way.
“Young Hamza is one of those lads that play on the limit and is fighting for his career.
“His strength is recovering the ball and retrieving the ball, which he is very good at, and he is learning other aspects of his game.
“The only way is constant work and talking with him.”
Salah missed the Reds’ stalemate at Old Trafford with an ankle knock picked up in the 2-1 victory over the Foxes on October 5 before the international break.
However the forward has been passed fit to be included in Klopp’s side for their latest Champions League group encounter with Genk on Wednesday evening.