Paul Merson admitted he would be “shocked” if Mohamed Salah returned to Liverpool’s line-up against Sunderland on Wednesday, insisting it would be wrong for him to earn a recall to the side.
Salah was in the rare position of being left on the bench for Sunday’s 2-0 win over West Ham, with Arne Slot even deciding against bringing him on as a substitute at the London Stadium.
The decision to bench the Egyptian came as questions mount over Salah’s place in the side, with the 33-year-old having faced criticism for his performances amid what has been an awful run of form for the Reds over the last couple of months.
In his absence, summer signings Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak helped take Liverpool to victory over the Hammers, with the latter scoring his first league goal for the club while the former has earned plaudits for his performance.
With both players having only just returned from injury though, Slot faces a big call on whether they will start against Sunderland, which may see Salah come back into contention. Former Arsenal midfielder Merson though insists that he should be left out again.
“I'd be shocked if Arne Slot decides to bring Mohamed Salah back into the Liverpool team for this game,” Merson told Sportskeeda.
“That isn't the right thing to do. He was dropped for a reason and Liverpool won.
Mohamed Salah of Liverpool applauds from the bench during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Liverpool at London Stadium
Mohamed Salah was left on the bench for Liverpool's win over West Ham (Image: Justin Setterfield, Getty Images)
“Salah needs to be on the bench to get back to his best. You can't keep picking players based on how good they were in the past. Slot made the right decision to drop Salah in the last game and he should stick to it.”
Slot gave no hints as to whether Salah would return to his side against Sunderland when spoke to the media on Tuesday, although he did give some insight into the winger’s reaction to being dropped.
"Of course, a player is not happy he isn’t playing,” Slot said during his press conference on Tuesday. “He was not the only one who wasn’t happy he wasn’t starting, I can tell you — and that’s normal.
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"But the way he behaved is what you would expect from the professional he is. He was very supportive of his teammates, handled himself really well during the day, and yesterday in the session as well.
"You cannot be a player that’s available every three days and play at those high standards if you go with your emotions. But Mo is so disciplined, and he knows what he has to do to stay fit.
"No matter if he plays well, doesn’t play or if he doesn’t play he will always be that top professional. That is what he’s been in the last few days."