- Liverpool face Brighton on Saturday
- Slot gives an update on Salah
- The Reds chase Champions League qualification
Arne Slot has offered a bruising injury update regarding Mohamed Salah ahead of Liverpool’s Saturday lunchtime trip to Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League.
Off the back of convincingly putting Galatasaray to the sword 4-1 over two legs in the Champions League, Slot and his team will be heading to the South Coast hopeful that they can make it two wins on the spin, to seriously ramp up the confidence levels.
The worry might well be that Liverpool could look jaded and lethargic on their travels to the Seagulls. After such a tiresome runout against the visitors from Turkey, the Dutchman potentially has to make several changes to compete with Fabian Hurzeler’s hosts.
When speaking to the media in the build-up to the clash on Saturday, Slot was extremely complimentary of the home side awaiting his Reds. He suggested another “intense” contest is on the horizon.
Slot’s pre-match comments
Indeed, the Premier League title winner has predicted that a “fascinating” match-up is ahead, as Liverpool do battle with another high-energy opponent.
He said: “Styles make fights and that is everything I should say. We faced a Gala team that maybe tried to kill momentum but wanted to press and bring the ball out, they wanted to fight with us.
I said it 150 times, it will never be about us if a game is not entertaining. Every team that wants to fight, we gave them a fight and a great game.”
Slot continued: “But if we want to fight a team who only want to cover up then it is less atttractive, that is all I can say. We faced a Gala team who are used to being the better team in their league, you cannot compare with that most of the teams we faced this season.”
“We now face an attractive and interesting style v Brighton, which makes it complicated. We put in an enormous shift, so tell me what is smart? Frimpong, for example, made so many sprints this season, when games come fast he has got injured [in the past].”
Slot on Gomez and Salah
Slot also touched on Gomez’s absence ahead of the Brighton game. He told reporters:
“Joe being out, so you can already understand which questions we have to answer. Brighton has always been a team who want to play, make it intense, they have seen how intense our game was. We have played them twice, both were fascinating, high tempo, high pace.”
With Gomez set to continue on the sidelines for this away trip to the South Coast, Slot has some selection headaches he must contend with.
Even more worryingly for the ex-PSV Eindhoven manager, he is now also set to be without Mohamed Salah for the long trip. The forward’s latest injury trouble further rules him out of international duty with Egypt.
Salah could potentially be back for the clash against Manchester City in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup a the start of next month. Slot is hopeful he can come back “faster” than predicted.
Slot stated: “Unusual [he is injured], I think you expect the outcome so he is not available for tomorrow.
Good thing for Liverpool is we go to international break, bad news for Egypt, he can’t go there. We hope with what Mo has shown in the past he can recovery faster than other players.
He takes such good care of his body, he can be back earlier than others as history has shown. Only two weeks until we go again.”
After a record-breaking night in the Champions League that saw Salah score his 50th goal in the illustrious competition, this will be a frustrating setback for the much-loved number 11.
Slot will have to reconsider who he picks in attack; therefore, with Liverpool now heading to the South Coast, without Salah travelling alongside them.
