Mohamed Salah is once again a regular starter at Liverpool following his outburst after the Leeds United game last month.
Arne Slot dropped Salah for the Inter Milan fixture the following week, and he was then brought off the bench against Brighton and Hove Albion prior to leaving for the AFCON.
Since returning to Anfield, the 33-year-old has been put straight back into the eleven and made his first Premier League start since November when Liverpool lost to Bournemouth on Saturday.
How would you feel if Slot sent this XI out against Qarabag?
Four changes from Saturday…
However, the Egyptian was not at the top of his game, and both Alan Shearer and Gary Lineker noticed something about the winger during the 90 minutes at the Vitality Stadium.
Mohamed Salah isn’t shooting as much
Liverpool did not score from open play against the Cherries, only managing three shots on target during the match.
Speaking on The Rest Is Football, Shearer noted that Salah was opting to pass the ball when he normally would have taken a shot.
He said: “They didn’t seem to want to shoot and have a pop at goal, which is most unlike Mo Salah where he went through and tried to pass it rather than take a touch.”
Lineker agreed with the former striker, saying: “I was really surprised at that [Salah passing instead of shooting].”
As to why that is the case, he suggested: “Sometimes that’s a slight lack of confidence, isn’t it? You know, but it’s not like him [Salah] of all people.
“Things are not quite right, and I think it’s surprised us all this season.”
Name the players who actually had a better 2024/25 season than Mo Salah ⚽
The Best FIFA Men’s 11 2025
- Gianluigi Donnarumma
- Achraf Hakimi
- Willian Pacho
- Virgil van Dijk
- Nuno Mendes
- Cole Palmer
- Vitinha
- Pedri
- Jude Bellingham
- Ousmane Dembele
- Lamine Yamal
Mohamed Salah’s Liverpool issues are easy to explain
Salah scored 29 and assisted 18 as Liverpool won the Premier League in 2024/25.
So what has changed? Well, the obvious answer is that Slot now needs his forwards to defend more to make up for the shortcomings at the back.
However, Salah sent a message to Liverpool manager after their title success in April 2025, explaining he is a much better attacker when he doesn’t need to help out defensively.
He said: “I told him [Slot] ‘as long as you rest me defensively, I will provide offensively’.
“Try to rest me as much as I can, then I will show you the numbers. So I’m glad that I did.”
Unfortunately, Slot has not done that this season, and it’s seen Salah drop off in the final third.
Receive a digest of our best Liverpool content each week direct to your mailbox
