For at least one day, Liverpool were able to look past their turmoil after defeating Inter 1-0 in Champions League play on Tuesday. Fans chanting Arne Slot’s name showed a shift from backing Mohamed Salah in his current power struggle to supporting the manager who is tasked with leading the Reds through this rough patch in their form. They’ve shown glimpses in the Champions League, but sitting 10th in the Premier League behind rivals Everton and a newly promoted Sunderland, this hasn’t followed the Reds into the Premier League.
How to watch Liverpool vs. Brighton, odds
- Date: Saturday, Dec. 13 | Time: 10 a.m. ET
- Location: Anfield — Liverpool, England
- Live stream: Peacock
- Odds: Liverpool -150; Draw +320; Brighton +370
As the team returns to domestic play on Saturday, focus shifts back to Salah as this could be his final game for Liverpool, and there’s no guarantee that he’ll even feature. Salah will be released for the Africa Cup of Nations to compete with Egypt on Dec. 15, following this match facing Brighton, and with a run that could take him to Jan. 18 if Egypt makes it to the final of the competition, the transfer window could be wide open upon his return.
Slot didn’t offer much clarity as to whether Salah would get to make an appearance against Brighton, but that also does make sense as this is a developing situation by the hour, let alone the day.
“Salah in our out against Brighton? I will speak to Mo in the next few hours, and this conversation will determine all next steps,” Slot said in his prematch press conference before facing Brighton.
While it’s hard to see a way back for Salah after he went on record stating that someone at the club wants to push him out and that he’s been thrown under the bus, it’s also true that Liverpool wouldn’t have many suitors for the Egyptian star in January. According to the Athletic, those discussions were positive and will see Salah return to the Liverpool squad for facing Brighton before departing for AFCON.
Considering potential transfers, if San Diego FC can’t enter the picture, it could be a trip to the Saudi Pro League or bust for Salah. It’d be a tall task for another European side to meet Salah’s salary demands, but there’s also the case that Liverpool would want a transfer fee for Salah. With the 33-year-old on the wrong side of the aging curve and only having five goals and three assists all season while failing to register a goal contribution in seven consecutive matches, it’s hard to see why someone would see that and decide to roll the Brinks truck up to Anfield to secure his signature — not to mention that Salah put all his cards on the table, far from the best transfer strategy.
Liverpool were going to need to eventually think about life without Salah, but it wasn’t something that was the plan one year removed from winning the title; however, this season does provide them with an opportunity to plan for that. Even if Salah doesn’t depart in January, Liverpool are already 10 points off the pace of Arsenal atop the league, the title race may not be over for Liverpool, but this is also a time when their best opportunities for silverware will come in the Champions League and cups.
Knocking off Inter and Real Madrid in European play, there’s no reason that Liverpool can’t win the Champions League despite their domestic struggles. The Premier League can be a ground for figuring out what the best configuration is to do that as while they’ll want to get back into a European place in the table, even with rotation, there’s enough talent in the squad to do it. The Inter win saw Hugo Ekitike and Alexander Isak lead the line together, and more experimentation will be needed.
Last season, Salah running hot and scoring 29 goals and assisting 18 more was enough to lead Liverpool to the title, but with that form out of the equation, Slot has a big question to answer on how to replace them. The expectation was that Isak would continue his own Premier League form after consecutive seasons of scoring 20 or more goals with Newcastle United but it has actually been Ekitike who has been the more effective of the forwards with seven goals and two assists in all competitions. It’s far too early to say that Isak won’t be a good fit at Liverpool, but the time is now for Slot to figure out how to get the best out of the Swedish striker.
