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Alan Shearer says it is too soon to tell whether or not Mohamed Salah should be taken out of the side for a sustained spell after Arne Slot's bold call paid off this week.
Salah was taken out of the starting XI to take on Eintracht Frankfurt in Germany in the Champions League and Liverpool played well, scoring five goals. But Slot must now decide whether to bring the Egyptian back into his team for the weekend trip to Brentford in the Premier League.
The injury that Alexander Isak sustained midweek means he is a doubt for that clash. For that reason, bringing Salah back in might be easier as Liverpool will have to switch things around anyway.
"I think it's too early to say if Salah will continue to be Liverpool's main man," Shearer told Betfair.
"I understand that when you leave a big player out and then you get the result like Liverpool did and dominate, scoring five like they did — it should have been more as well.
"The clamor will be to leave him out again, but it's still too early to say. I still think that Mo Salah, give him time and a bit of confidence, will still score a shedload of goals."
Jamie Carragher has been among those to suggest Liverpool should view Salah as just another player rather than a talisman who must play every minute because of his age.
"It remains to be seen on the game, but I just think when Mo Salah isn't being 'the legendary Mo Salah,' he gets treated like one of the other players, which is right," Carragher said on CBS Sports.
"And you don't forget his age as well. He's 33 years of age, and Liverpool will have three games in six days.
"So at the moment, if he's not at his absolute best, he shouldn't play six games in three days because there are other options there as well.
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"We know Liverpool have spent a lot of money. Liverpool have got a big game as well on Saturday (against Brentford), so great decision, Arne."
Liverpool.com says: Salah hasn't been in good form but that won't last. He is getting in the right positions but just doesn't look confident right now.
A bit like Florian Wirtz getting two assists against Frankfurt, it might just take one game to change the trajectory of his season. For sure, no one should be writing Salah off. It would be a surprise if he didn't start in West London.
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