Photo by Richard Martin-Roberts - CameraSport via Getty Images
Photo by Richard Martin-Roberts - CameraSport via Getty Images
Liverpool are set to be without a couple of players for their Premier League meeting with Sunderland.
A new Jeremie Frimpong injury update emerged earlier this week, confirming he will be out for around two more weeks.
Conor Bradley has a similar return timeline, meaning Liverpool will be without a natural right-back for meetings with Sunderland and Leeds United.
Mohamed Salah of Liverpool warms up during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Liverpool at London Stadium
Photo by Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
After recovering from an injury issue of his own, Joe Gomez stepped up against West Ham, helping the Merseyside outfit to keep a rare Premier League clean sheet.
He may, if fit, start the upcoming meeting with Sunderland in the same role, which could be bad news for Mohamed Salah based on Slot’s latest comments.
Arne Slot verdict on Joe Gomez suggests he’s better without Mohamed Salah
Salah was dropped against West Ham, a decision many agree actually benefited the Reds.
With three games in six days, it would make sense for the Egyptian to return to the eleven against Sunderland.
However, when Slot spoke to the press on Tuesday, he was quick to point out how having Dominik Szoboszlai in front of him benefited Gomez a great deal.
He said: “It’s a skill set he [Gomez] has. When he’s not been playing, he can come in and perform straight away.
“I’ve worked with players where if they’ve not been playing a while they take a while to get back to their level, but Joe can do that straight away.
“It was helpful that Dom helped him out a lot.”
Given clean sheets have been hard to come by this season and Salah’s defensive contributions have been questioned, it could well be the case that Slot once again benches the 33-year-old to ensure Gomez receives enough support from his partner on the right-hand side.
Arne Slot says Mohamed Salah is unhappy
Slot was also asked about Salah being unhappy with his snub over the weekend during his latest press conference.
He said: “Fair assumption and normal reaction for someone who can play for us. Of course, a player isn’t happy he isn’t playing, he wasn’t the only one I can tell you.
“The way he behaved was as you would expect from the professional he is, he was very supportive for his teammates and handled himself really well. You can’t play that well every three days if you go with your emotions, but Mo is so disciplined.
“He will always be that top professional as he was the last few days.”
We also learned that Salah will be leaving Anfield to link up with Egypt for the AFCON on December 15.
He could be away until after January 18 if his country are able to book their place in the final.