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Paul Merson says Liverpool boss Arne Slot has no choice but to play Mohamed Salah into form at Anfield, with the Egyptian having struggled at times in the early part of the new season.
Salah has scored four goals and assisted another three so far for Liverpool in 2025/26. Seven goal contributions in 12 appearances is not the worst record, but he has missed some big chances during the tricky run of results that the Reds have been going through, particularly in the Premier League.
Having been given the night off completely midweek as Liverpool lost 3-0 at home to Crystal Palace in the League Cup, Salah is likely to return to the starting XI against Aston Villa on Saturday.
"Another big question is whether or not Salah starts this game for Liverpool," Merson pondered in his Sportskeeda column before predicting a 1-1 draw.
"I think he does. If you want chances falling to players in games like these, Salah is still certainly one of them. I know he hasn’t been scoring goals, but they can’t leave him out of this game."
After a terrible start to the new season, Aston Villa has found some form in recent weeks and beat Manchester City last weekend. In a reversal of Liverpool, it started badly in terms of results but has since gotten better.
"If you are looking at the form table, Aston Villa are at the top and Liverpool are languishing towards the bottom," Merson said. "Unai Emery's men will go to Anfield on Saturday with a lot of confidence.
"Barring the shock loss they suffered to Go Ahead Eagles, Villa have been faultless in recent weeks. Part of me goes, 'At some point Liverpool will start winning games again.'
"But when you lose six out of seven games, something is wrong. And it's not just the games you are losing, it's also the confidence.
"Villa have nothing to lose here. Even if they lose this game, it's not a big problem. That freedom will give them an advantage.
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"Both teams are also now on the same number of points, which is crazy considering how Villa had that tough start to the season. It just shows how quickly things can change.
"The only problem with Villa is that they haven't been scoring enough goals. I know they have let in just eight goals in the Premier League, but they have scored only nine in nine games!
"Liverpool have let in so many goals in recent weeks, but can Villa take advantage of the Reds' shaky defence?"
Liverpool.com says: Salah, like Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz, is too good a player to be lacking confidence in front of goal for long. He tends to come up with big moments, and this is a big week for Liverpool, with Real Madrid and Manchester City on the horizon.
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