Slot is confident Mo Salah will return to his best form and suggests he is missing Trent Alexander-Arnold
Arne Slot says the “last thing” he is worried about is Mohamed Salah scoring goals again and believes his recent struggles could be attributed to the departure of Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Salah and Alexander-Arnold forged a productive partnership on Liverpool’s right flank for many years before the England international left for Real Madrid at the end of last season.
Salah has looked a little lost without him, scoring just twice in eight Premier League matches this season. The Egyptian was left out of the starting XI for the midweek Champions League match at Eintracht Frankfurt and watched from the bench as a much-changed starting XI cruised to an impressive 5-1 victory.
next trip to Brentford for Liverpool
Liverpool travel to Brentford this weekend and Slot’s team selection will be the subject of much debate.
When asked why Salah was struggling, Slot replied: “I don’t know if it’s the sharpness. In general, players miss chances. He’s a human being. We’re not used to him missing chances, let alone a few games in a row, but these things happen.
“The main thing is that Mo has always scored goals for our club. The last thing that worries me is that Mo starts scoring goals again because that’s what he’s done all his life and that’s what I expect him to do again.
“Maybe his whole career at Liverpool he played with Trent, so it could [be that]. But he played promising positions often enough to score goals, perhaps even more so with Trent. But in general, if you have a lot of changes this summer, you need to find new connections. Mo is no exception to this.
Isak doubtful for weekend clash
Salah’s chances of playing at the Gtech Community Stadium are boosted by the fact that Alexander Isak is likely to miss out with a groin injury which forced him off at half-time against Eintracht.
The Sweden international is yet to find his best form following his summer move from Newcastle and Liverpool’s embarrassment of riches in attack means Slot has no need to take any risks.
He added: “Alexander [Isak] it’s not too bad. It’s a question mark for the weekend so we’ll see where he is and it’s the same with Ryan Gravenberch. Alisson Becker is also not in the team.
“Jérémie Frimpong is not in the right place, he will not play today, tomorrow or next week. Hamstring injuries take time.”
The midweek success in Germany ended a run of four successive defeats in all competitions for Liverpool and Slot believes his side are being punished for every mistake they make.
“At the moment, if we do one little thing wrong, we concede,” he said. “We have to make sure we do things 10 times out of 10 perfectly.
“Some moments were unlucky. In a time like this, you have to be perfect.”
