23 hours ago
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Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has explained the decision to leave Mohamed Salah out of his starting XI for the game against Leeds United — with Alexander Isak on the bench too.
Isak has started matches against West Ham United and Sunderland this week, but Hugo Ekitike is preferred at number nine here. Salah, meanwhile, has only played 45 minutes across the course of the last two Liverpool fixtures.
"It's never an easy decision," Slot told Sky Sports when he was asked about Salah before kick-off. "We all know what a great player he is. But it is also up to me to pick the team that I think we need today. That's why I made this decision."
Liverpool travels to Inter Milan in the Champions League midweek. It then hosts Brighton in the Premier League at Anfield next weekend. Those are the final two games Salah will be able to start in before he heads to AFCON.
On whether Dominik Szoboszlai can add some stability on the right wing, Slot added: "It's not only [about] us, it is also the team we face.
"In the last games I saw of them, they made it hard for City in the second half. I saw the same against Chelsea.
"We try to adapt as best as we can to their strength and hopefully we can hurt them."
Liverpool starting XI: Alisson; Bradley, Konate, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Gravenberch, Jones, Szoboszlai; Wirtz, Ekitike, Gakpo. Subs: Mamardashvili, Gomez, Endo, Isak, Mac Allister, Salah, Chiesa, Robertson, Ngumoha.
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