If absence inspires fondness of heart, and by extension a little extra generosity in accounts, then Mo Salah’s limp down the tunnel at Brighton might just give Liverpool a gentle nudge in their contractual stand-off.
It is not yet known if there will be consequences to the foot injury he sustained here, but such is Salah’s value that any game missed will cause palpitations.
This is no time to sample even a brief taste of life without him, with a trip to Arsenal on Wednesday and no room for error in the pursuit of Manchester City.