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Arne Slot has played down concerns over Mohamed Salah’s form this season, having insisted he isn’t the only Liverpool player who needs to respond to the team’s recent slump in form.
The Reds return to Premier League action against Manchester United this weekend following the international break, and will be looking to end a run of three consecutive defeats that has seen them fall behind Arsenal at the top of the table.
Concerns have been raised by pundits over a number of Liverpool’s players in recent weeks, including Salah, who hasn’t reached his usual standards this season, having gone the last three games without any goal involvements.
The Egyptian though scored twice during the international break to help his country qualify for next year’s World Cup, and coming up against United should provide plenty of incentive for him - Salah has scored more goals against the Red Devils than any other club.
Slot though doesn’t believe the opponent should make any difference, and wants to see a response from all of his players - not just Salah.
“I think it should not matter who we are playing on Sunday,” Slot said in his press conference on Friday.
“If you’ve lost three games in a row, when you wear the Liverpool shirt, it doesn’t matter who your opponent is, you have to react.
“If there’s one thing I cannot blame the players for, it’s that they give everything they have every single game. They go all in from the first till the last minute, this is what we did in the last three games as well.
“In all three games, we had to come back from being 1-0 down, in two games we managed to do so, but unfortunately lost in the end where we were having chances in both games, maybe more than our opponent, to win it.
“But if you’ve lost three in a row, it doesn’t matter if Man United is coming or Brentford next week, there should always be a reaction. Not only from Mo, from all the players.”
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Slot was also asked about comments made by Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella, who revealed his side had targeted Salah’s side of the pitch during the Reds’ 2-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge.
“In this particular case, I heard the comments from Cucurella, I also saw how they scored the 2-1, but I could also show you five or six moments where Mo could have made the difference for us, and if that would have happened, we would have had the conversation like last season where he made the difference for us so many times,” Slot said.
“If that doesn’t happen, then you get probably comments like this. It’s always the balance between winger and fullbacks.
“I want our fullbacks to attack as well, so we have to find the right balance in that, but I said at the start that we are conceding too many crosses compared to last season, and this is something I’m aware of, and we have to do better.”
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