Brighton head coach Fabian Hurzeler has given his verdict on Mo Salah‘s absence for Liverpool, hoping he plays on Saturday as “we always want to face the best players.”
Salah’s involvement in Saturday’s 3pm kickoff depends on the outcome of a conversation between him and Arne Slot on Friday morning.
Those on the outside are hoping that the Egyptian can resolve his issues with the club and resume normal service after scoring 34 and assisting 23 in 52 appearances last season.
Hurzeler is of that opinion too, with the German telling his pre-match press conference that he wants his side to “face the best.”
“Maybe I should get involved and say hopefully he’s not available!” he joked.
“No, we always want to face the best players, the best teams. We try to go for this challenge.
“To be honest we don’t have any idea how Liverpool will play, which players will face us, which formation, so it’s about us, it’s about focusing on our principles, our style of play.
“We go there, we know no matter which situation Liverpool is in it will be a big challenge, so we try to face it and we try to go and win this game.”
Hurzeler: Salah’s influence on the Premier League is “massive”
3CMT86E Liverpool, UK. 17th Sep, 2025. Mohamed Salah of Liverpool celebrates his goal to make it 2-0 during the Liverpool vs Atletico Madrid UEFA Champions League match at Anfield, Liverpool. Picture credit should read: James Baylis/Sportimage Credit: Sportimage Ltd/Alamy Live News
If Salah does leave Liverpool in January he will have done so having won the Premier League twice along with the Champions League, FA Cup, Club World Cup, UEFA Super Cup, Carabao Cup and the Community Shield.
He has scored 250 goals and assisted a further 113 in 420 games for the club, the third and fifth-most respectively in Liverpool’s storied history.
Asked about the impact Salah has had on the Premier League, Hurzeler said: “Definitely big.
“So I’m quite new to the Premier League, but of course I followed the Premier League before.
“He was always a big player, always a player who made the difference, who scored quite a lot of goals. His influence was and can be massive.
“But in the end I think it’s really about their situation; it’s not our situation, it’s not my situation.
“I can’t make any further comment on how they will solve it, how they will deal with it, because it’s not our issue and it’s not something we can influence.
“We should really focus on the things we can influence and that’s our preparation, that’s our players, how our players prepare individually for this challenge.”
Brighton boss sympathises with Arne Slot
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Wednesday, December 3, 2025: Liverpool's head coach Arne Slot during the FA Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Sunderland AFC at Anfield. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
Though Liverpool are on a run of four games unbeaten, having won 1-0 at Inter Milan in midweek, it can certainly be argued that this is a good time for Brighton to be heading to Anfield.
“I think there are always expectations on big clubs, and that’s the situation you have to deal with when you are working for big clubs,” Hurzeler said when asked about the pressure Slot is facing.
“There’s always pressure when you don’t win games.
“I think we have a similar situation in Madrid, [Xabi] Alonso is not winning, losing three games in a row and immediately he has pressure.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Saturday, November 2, 2024: Brighton & Hove Albion's head coach Fabian Hürzeler during the FA Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Brighton & Hove Albion FC at Anfield. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
“That’s part of being a coach at the biggest clubs in the world. You have to find a way to deal with it, you have to find a way to deal with the expectations.
“But what I can say, I really have a big respect for what Arne Slot‘s achieved, how he plays with his teams, you see a clear style of play, so I’m really looking forward to facing him.”