Mohamed Salah was in the spotlight on Sunday, even though he did not play a minute of Liverpool’s win over West Ham.
While the Egyptian has been out of form recently, he remained a fixture in the line-up during the Reds’ losing run.
However, that changed at the London Stadium. Arne Slot opted to leave him out, giving Dominik Szoboszlai a start on the right instead.
The Dutchman’s call was largely successful, finally leading to another Premier League victory for the Reds.
And following the Liverpool win over West Ham, former full-back Steve Nicol stated that bringing Salah straight back into the line-up for Wednesday’s match against Sunderland at Anfield would be a ‘big mistake’.
Steve Nicol highlights Liverpool’s defensive improvement without Mohamed Salah
Even though he is one of the most important figures at the club, there were not many who could argue against Salah being left out of the starting line-up on Sunday.
His recent struggles have impacted more than just Liverpool’s attack. Since Slot took over, his role has shifted, and it has been noticeable that his defensive contributions have not matched what the team need.
Nicol believes that keeping Salah out was justified, pointing to how much better Liverpool looked defensively against West Ham. He thinks it would be a mistake for the Dutch manager to bring him straight back in for the Sunderland match.
He said on ESPN FC: “You need to start from the back, you need the base to be right, to be solid, to stop giving goals away. He goes back and breaks that shape up, at least they were solid defensively – because of Szoboszlai.
“He wasn’t standing wide the way Mo [Salah] does and just stands there waiting for the ball, he’s getting involved, he’s getting back inside, helping his full-back. The whole shape defensively was miles better, they’re not going to get better if they just all of a sudden go back to what they’re doing and teams start streaming through them again.
“You’ve got to look after the base, the solid structure that they had today. Yes, it’s against West Ham, but there was a solid structure, there was no real drama, no running all over the place, no holes. That’s what you’ve got to go from. If he changes it and brings Mo Salah back against Sunderland, to me that’s a big mistake.”
Could Mohamed Salah be left out again against Sunderland?
Salah was left on the bench for the first time in the Premier League since Slot took charge, and his absence coincided with a much-needed win over West Ham.
One game is not enough to signal a big change, but repeating it would indicate Slot is ready to move away from the status quo. And with Salah set to depart soon for AFCON, his spot could be in real jeopardy if he does not start on Wednesday.
After such a poor stretch of results, Nicol’s logic makes sense. If a change leads to a win, it is hard to justify going straight back to what was not working.
But Salah has made a career out of answering criticism on the pitch. He will be hungry to prove his worth if given another chance. Still, Slot may feel there is no need to disrupt something that finally clicked into place.
- READ MORE: Richard Keys names the coach Liverpool view as their long-term option to replace Arne Slot
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