Image Credits: Imago Images
Mohamed Salah was included in Liverpool’s travelling squad for their Champions League trip to Marseille. The Egypt international participated in open training on Tuesday following his return from the Africa Cup of Nations, where he helped Egypt finish fourth after losing to eventual winners Senegal in the semi-finals.
The 33-year-old had missed Liverpool’s last European match, a trip to Inter Milan, earlier this month following his explosive interview after the Reds’ 3-3 draw at Leeds United.
However, after amicable talks with manager Arne Slot prior to leaving for international duty, Salah has been recalled to the squad and is now back in the fold.
Salah is part of a 20-man squad that departed from John Lennon Airport on Tuesday afternoon ahead of the Champions League league-phase clash at the Orange Velodrome.
Liverpool remain unbeaten in the 12 matches since Slot first dropped Salah from the starting XI, though they have drawn six of those games, including their last four Premier League matches. Fans expressed their frustration at Anfield on Saturday following the 1-1 draw with Burnley.
With the Reds struggling to break down teams and find the back of the net, it remains to be seen whether Salah Liverpool’s third-highest scorer, who netted four goals at AFCON, will earn a place in the starting XI in France.
Providing an update on Salah’s availability for the game, Arne Slot said: “With Mo, I’m really happy and pleased that he’s back. In his absence I think we’ve done quite OK in terms of hardly conceding any chance.
“We start to create more and more – and if you start to create more and more, it’s really helpful to have a player like Mo Salah. Because if there’s ever been a player – I think there was one who scored more for this club – that can score goals and I can still play, I don’t think I can play Ian Rush still, then it’s really helpful to have him back.
“We would never know but the amount of chances, the amount of ball possession against Burnley, with Mo on the pitch it would usually mean that we would have scored more.
“That’s why I’m really happy that he’s back, because creating chances is nice but we are only judged on results and that wasn’t nice. So, hopefully we can combine two things. Create the same chances, able to score more and keep not conceding chances on the other end.”
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