Salah, 33, is undeniably one of Liverpool’s greatest ever players, never mind in the Premier League era. Last season, he was imperious, leading the line as Arne Slot’s side ran away with the league title.
This time around, however, he’s not looking like his usual self. So, is it time for Slot to pull the trigger and make arguably the biggest decision of his managerial career by leaving the Egyptian King out of the side?
Found out against Chelsea
There have been few games in which Salah has been so invisible as dramatic the 2-1 Premier League defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday (October 4), even Marc Cucurella called it out after the game.
He told Sky Sports: "We know that Salah is always ready for the counterattack attack so we practised that and the manager said that the space might be there.
“We saw that it was the last minute, but we kept attacking. I tried to give my last effort, and Enzo gave me the ball, and I crossed for Estevao.
“I think we deserve it. We started the game very well, and then the second-half, we started not in the right way again – we need to improve these things.
“But in general, I think we deserve this win. We came through some tough weeks. This moment was amazing, and we go into the break with three points, so we are very happy.”
In the past, Salah’s remarkable attacking numbers would help make up for his lack of defensive output. Against Chelsea he created the most chances with four but also had the fewest touches of any outfield player with 35.
Missing Trent Alexander-Arnold
The connection between the two players on Liverpool’s right side last season was arguably their best asset. According to Opta’s stats for line-breaking passes, Alexander-Arnold made 147 of them to Salah last season, 36 per cent more than any other Premier League pairing.
While Alexander-Arnold’s defensive shortcomings often drew the spotlight, his rare talent as a right-back lay in his ability to dismantle defensive structures with his passing range, consistently supplying Salah with the ball in dangerous areas.
He’s not receiving the same service this season. Jeremie Frimpong has had several injuries to content with, although he basically operates as a right winger anyway, while Conor Bradley has also had his issues.
Dominik Szoboszlai has been Alexander-Arnold’s surprise replacement, and the Hungarian has been Salah’s main provider, But his average of 3.5 per 90 minutes falls well short of Alexander-Arnold's 5.6 per 90 minutes last term.
How is Mohamed Salah’s form effecting his Liverpool teammates?
Liverpool broke plenty of records throughout the summer transfer window, notably breaking the British transfer record TWICE to sign Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen and then Alexander Isak from Newcastle.
It’s still early days for these two players, but they have been particularly affected by Salah’s drop off in front of goal. Wirtz, who was the main man at his former clubs is now tasked with helping clean up after the Egyptian when he refuses to track back.
Under Xabi Alonso, Wirtz played as the left-sided number ten, now he’s operating primarily on the right rather than the left, covering the space vacated by Salah, whose defensive contribution is limited. That shift has taken Wirtz out of the half-spaces that once defined his game, restricting his natural rhythm and influence.
As for Isak, everything Newcastle did in the final third was centred around him. Wingers Anthony Gordon and Jacob Murphy’s main task was to find the big Swede in central areas so he could get the chance to score. Salah doesn’t really do that, he’s more focussed on getting a shot off than finding a teammate.
That’s not a criticism of Salah, his numbers speak for themselves, but at the moment, he’s not getting the service so therefore he’s not scoring the goals, and he’s becoming more of a liability than an asset.
Verdict
Last season, Liverpool were able to get away with having Salah as a luxury player who’s only goal was to, well, score goals. This season, now that the balance of the team has shifted, he’s getting more and more exposed.
Salah will either have to adjust his game ever so slightly and work a little harder defensively, or Slot might have to make the call sooner rather than later.