Mohamed Salah starts back-to-back Premier League games on the bench for the first time in his Liverpool career.
Arne Slot made the unprecedented call of dropping the Egyptian superstar for Sunday’s trip to West Ham United, which was the first time the Dutchman has named a Premier League XI without Salah.
The winger enjoyed a historic campaign amid the Reds’ title triumph during Slot’s first season at the helm in 2024–25, finishing with a record-equalling 47 league goal involvements. However, Salah has suffered amid the club’s downturn during their second Premier League title defence, notching just six contributions in 12 games before his benching at the weekend.
The 33-year-old is understood to have not taken kindly to his omission, but Slot explained that the bold decision was made with load management in mind. Liverpool are partway through a run of four games in the space of 10 days, but his absence from the XI for Wednesday’s game may suggest that Slot is pushing in a new direction, having almost exclusively relied upon Salah last season.
Explaining his call for Sunderland’s midweek visit, Slot told Sky Sports: “I play the same team, it’s a balance between continuity and freshness. It’s obvious and clear that we need the full squad because a few who start aren’t able to play a full 90 again. More than ever, we need more than 11 players.
“All the players have a chance to come in, Mo is definitely one of them. It's a good thing we have players like Mo available on the bench,” he added.
Liverpool’s 2–0 victory over Nuno Espírito Santo’s Hammers at the weekend, during which Florian Wirtz impressed and Alexander Isak found the back of the net, has convinced the manager to stick to his guns. Andy Robertson coming in for Milos Kerkez is the only change, with Joe Gomez and Dominik Szoboszlai poised to start down the right flank against the Black Cats.
Wednesday’s hosts will, of course, have to operate without Salah while he’s away at the Africa Cup of Nations, which starts on December 21. The 33-year-old could miss as many as seven games as a result of the commitment, with Egypt among the favourites to win the tournament in Morocco.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Arne Slot Doubles Down With Another Huge Mohamed Salah Selection Call.
