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It would be fair to say that Liverpool's clash with Leeds — a missed opportunity to draw level on points with Chelsea in the Premier League standings — will come to be remembered for Mohamed Salah's explosive interview above all else.
Just weeks away from the winter transfer window opening, he has cast doubt over whether he will be a Liverpool player for much longer, hinting that he could wave goodbye for good — not just for AFCON — during next weekend's game against Brighton at Anfield.
And that is not the only question that Liverpool faces ahead of a crucial period. How can Arne Slot navigate through January and beyond to ensure that the second half of the season is stronger than the first? Liverpool.com has taken a look.
Mohamed Salah solution
How exactly can Salah come back from this? Having laid bare his grievances with Slot and the club. the Liverpool talisman didn't leave anything to the imagination.
Salah has strong interest from the Saudi Pro League; if there was already a feeling from clubs there that he could be enticed, that will only ramp up now. Clubs everywhere will have taken note.
Opening a civil war between himself and the manager, the next few days will be instructive as to where Liverpool feels its stance should lie. It is going to be fascinating.
Marc Guehi move
While it is far too simplistic to suggest that Liverpool's season would have been completely different had it managed to get a deal over the line for Marc Guehi in the summer, there is no doubt that he would have been a good addition.
Ibrahima Konate has struggled for consistency and has never looked far away from a mistake. Guehi would have been a viable alternative to the Frenchman — and would have put more pressure on his starting place.
Liverpool remains an admirer of Guehi — whose Anfield move only broke down because Crystal Palace failed to source a replacement and felt that it couldn't afford to lose its captain — and bringing forward the move to the winter window would be ideal.
Of course, by waiting until the summer, Liverpool would be able to sign the player for free. However, with Giovanni Leoni out and still no update on Konate's contract, accelerating the move — if a reasonable fee could be agreed — would make a big difference.
Signing a forward
Even after the arrivals of Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike in the summer, Liverpool is likely to dip into the market for another forward again at some point in the next couple of transfer windows. Salah, for example, doesn't sound like he is in it for the long haul.
Of course, where Florian Wirtz will end up playing most often is still to become clear (it could be wide left) but Federico Chiesa doesn't appear to be trusted to start. There are still questions to be answered in the attacking unit as a whole.
Liverpool doesn't want to block the pathway for Rio Ngumoha, but it has been credited with an interest in Bournemouth's Antoine Semenyo, for instance. There will be others under consideration too.
Adding another ingredient to an attack that is aleady trying to work out patterns and relationships doesn't seem like the obvious fix in that sense, but injecting some pace into the forward line could make a difference. If Salah leaves, there might not be any choice.
A glimpse of the future?
Given that Salah will be missing — slightly earlier than January, admittedly, but still for a period at the start of the month — Liverpool will have to get used to what we have seen for five out of the six halves of soccer the Reds have played this week.
Jeremie Frimpong, who is nearing a return from injury, is one option to play on the wing, while Chiesa, Wirtz and Ekitike could all fill in there too. Dominik Szoboszlai has done so most successfully so far this season, but losing him from the center wouldn't be ideal.
One alternative could be a change of system. Playing Ekitike and Isak as a front two, with Wirtz and Szoboszlai on either side of a midfield four, could be a route to success too, though it would mean starting both number nines together, which Slot hasn't always been keen on — he likes to have one to call upon in the second half.
After the draw against Leeds was overshadowed by Salah's comments, Liverpool is now only one point off the Champions League places as things stand. The season, then, still has plenty of room and time for improvement, and when it comes to change in the winter window, Salah might just have forced its hand.
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