Up until 2025/26, Mohamed Salah was playing a ton of games for Liverpool every season, and this on top of his age, has begun to catch up with the Egyptian.
Ahead of Liverpool facing West Ham United, Salah is on a historically bad goal drought in the Premier League.
The Egyptian has gone nine games without a league goal for the first time during his Anfield stint.
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Alexis Mac Allister during Arsenal v Liverpool - Premier League
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There has even been talk about Rio Ngumoha replacing Salah in the eleven moving forward as a result of his decline.
Liverpool appearances and age have caught up to Mohamed Salah
The fall-off has been swift and has probably taken Liverpool fans by surprise.
Salah scored 34 goals and provided 23 assists last season, but is yet to reach double figures on either front this term.
Could that be down to the Reds’ decline as a team or Slot’s management? There are plenty of theories, but Darren Bent’s comments about the winger’s staggering game time over the last several years make the most sense, and isn’t talked about enough.
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Speaking about Salah on talkSPORT, Bent explained: “Ever since he got to Liverpool, he has been 10 out of 10, right? Absolute legend, right? Premier League legend, Liverpool legend, right? None of us expected the decline to come like he’d be fine, but he’s 33 years old.
“I know he looks after himself, but when you’re playing like again, I go back to his minutes and game time. Like last season, 52 appearances, the year before that 44, the year before that 51, then 51, then 51.
“At some point it’s going to catch you up, and especially when you play, when you’re someone like Salah who relies, listen he’s a genius and he’s got great feet, he scores great goals right? But he relies a lot on his pace.
“Eventually, at some point, that’s going to start to waver, and when you’re playing as many minutes as he is, although he looks after himself, and then he obviously was at the AFCON this year as well, at some point, he’s going to start slowing down.”
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Mohamed Salah scores a free-kick during Liverpool's UEFA Champions League match against Qarabag at Anfield (Credit: Getty Images/Ed Sykes/Sportsphoto/Allstar).
Photo Credit: Getty Images/Ed Sykes/Sportsphoto/Allstar
It’s easy to forget that Salah, up until 2025/26, basically started every fixture for Liverpool when he was fit and not competing at the AFCON.
Such a high workload will catch up to even the best players, and it may now be the case that the 33-year-old just can’t compete at the highest level in the Premier League anymore.
Even players like Cristiano Ronaldo have had to move to ‘easier’ lower-intensity leagues once they get close to their mid-30s, and there is no real reason why Salah would be an exception.
Yes, Slot’s use of the winger probably had some impact, but the simplest theory just seems to be the number of minutes he’s played, and age, have finally caught up to Salah.
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