Arne Slot makes Mohamed Salah admission after 'chaotic' Liverpool win at Tottenham

Mohamed Salah was missed during Liverpool's 2-1 win over Tottenham on Saturday, according to head coach Arne Slot, who credited his team while admitting they lacked wide options

Arne Slot believes that Liverpool missed Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo against Tottenham(Image: 2025 CameraSport)

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot admitted that Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo were sorely missed against Tottenham, despite securing a 2-1 victory in North London.

Goals from Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike secured all three points for Liverpool despite Richarlison's late strike. However, Isak suffered a worrying knee injury when scoring, and Dominik Szoboszlai will serve a one-game suspension after receiving his fifth yellow card of the season.

Florian Wirtz also felt his hamstring before being substituted, but Liverpool held on against nine-man Tottenham, as Xavi Simons and Cristian Romero were sent off. Despite being pleased with the performance, Slot admitted that Liverpool missed its key wingers.

"When the other team goes down to 10 or 9, it’s helpful to have wingers that can dominate down the sides," Slot said after the game. "We missed Gakpo and Mo.

"That’s also what you saw when we brought Jeremie in. He was the one who created the second goal."

Frimpong came off the bench and assisted Ekitike's goal, which ended up being the winner for Liverpool. Gakpo is currently sidelined through injury, while Salah is on international duty with Egypt.

Liverpool could be without Salah until January 18(Image: 2025 Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA)

Before Salah departed for the Africa Cup of Nations, he was dropped by Slot after an explosive mixed zone interview. Salah claimed that he was being thrown under the bus after being benched, and claimed that his relationship with the head coach was nonexistent.

Slot has insisted that the incident is in the past, and Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones claimed that Salah apologized to his teammates. "He apologized to us and was like: 'If I've affected anybody or made you feel any sort of way, I apologize,'" Jones told Sky Sports.

"That's the man that he is. I can only speak from me knowing Mo, and how he is with us, and how he acted on that.

Curtis Jones revealed that Mohamed Salah apologized to his Liverpool teammates(Image: Paul ELLIS / AFP via Getty Images)

"He was positive as well. He was the exact same Mo, he had a big smile on his face and everybody was exactly the same with him.

"I guess it's just part of wanting to be a winner and I don't think he will be the last. I get that there are certain ways you can go about things. But if a lad's fine to just be on the bench and he doesn't want to play and help the team, then I think that's more of an issue.

"When there's been any sort of anger from us, including myself, it's always been from a good place. "In the moment, it might not have come out in the right way, but it's never been to affect the team, the staff, the manager, anybody like that.

"We're past that now and we're gelling well as a team, playing well and starting to win games."