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One way or another, for better or for worse, Mohamed Salah was always likely to be a key storyline this weekend at Anfield. The Liverpool man does tend to be, but that was heightened for obvious reasons this week.
After a seven-day period in which he dominated the headlines for the wrong reasons, causing an unwanted headache for Arne Slot, Salah was brought on unexpectedly early as the Reds beat Brighton — and he played well.
Though he didn’t score, Salah set a new Premier League record for goal involvements at a single club. The Egyptian took his combined tally of goals and assists in the top flight for Liverpool to 277.
Salah now has 188 goals and 89 assists in the Premier League since joining the Reds in 2017, and he therefore moved clear of Wayne Rooney on the highest number of goal involvements for one team (he, of course, did it for Manchester United).
On the pitch, showing plenty of desire to run back and a level of unselfishness not always associated with him, Salah clearly felt that he needed to prove a point.
After such explosive comments in the mixed zone at Elland Road, he would be right. It would be a travesty if this were the final appearance that Salah makes for Liverpool, but it didn’t feel like it.
The lap of honor conducted at the end felt more like a thanks for singing his song than anything else. His post on social media a couple of hours after the final whistle probably falls into the same bracket.
When he walked through the mixed zone at Anfield, he was a lot calmer this time around. Asked to stop, he politely declined with a smile: "Two weeks in a row? No, no!"
"He is a Liverpool player and when he is here, I like to use him when we need him," Slot said. "Today, he didn’t start as he did for a few games before, but in the one and a half seasons before, he started almost every game.
"He had the performance like you would want him to give. He was close to another assist; he was shocked to see Virgil [van Dijk] next to him in that long sprint; he was close to scoring when Fede [Chiesa] assisted him.
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"He was a threat, which is very important. When you play with attackers, you hope he is a threat to the other team. Hugo [Ekitike] and Florian [Wirtz] were that also."
Salah showed on the pitch what he offers Liverpool and the quality that he has. When he is performing, he remains a difference-maker, even if his spot on the team is no longer guaranteed.
Additionally, against Brighton, he made a mockery of the myth that he can’t play in this Liverpool new-look system and showed a real willingness to knuckle down and let his football do the talking. That has to be the hope when he returns from AFCON.
A win and Salah's reintegration: after a tricky few days that Slot has navigated well and emerged from in a stronger position, the Liverpool boss couldn’t really have asked for anything more.
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