Mo Salah and Virgil van Dijk are showing they can't be allowed to depart Liverpool

Liverpool continue their brutal gauntlet of matches as they turn their focus from the Champions League back to the Premier League as they have a showdown with fellow title challengers, Arsenal.

It's another stern test for Arne Slot as he tries to balance the fitness of his squad as more and more injuries are beginning to somewhat pile up. It will be the game of the weekend and a positive result there will truly cement the Reds at the top of the table.

Through this tough stretch, Liverpool have seen their two biggest stars continue to perform extremely well under the uncertainty of expiring contracts and intense media pressure.

Mo and VVD playing like stars

Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah have been in very strong form this season, particularly Salah who has been scoring and creating goals for fun this season. The Egyptian has 7 goals and 7 assists in 12 appearances across all competitions.

He looks as fit as ever and his motivation has never seemingly been higher as his desire to put the ball in the back of the net is near ravenous.

There are reports that he is looking or a record breaking weekly wage in his new contract at Anfield and based on his current form, there might not be much of an argument against it.

As we move to van Dijk in defense, the Captain has still looked like one of the better defenders in the world.

His leadership qualities continue to rise to the forefront and he reads the game better than almost anyone around. He has once again formed a elite center pairing alongside Ibrahima Konate. Together, they use their physicality and game reading skills to shutter most attacks.

He has been a model leader and club man and there is no reason to believe that a 2-year extension for the Dutchman would be out of question.

They fit the slot system wonderfully

A huge question coming into the season with both of these guys coming into the season on expiring contracts revolved around the departure of Jurgen Klopp.

Could Arne Slot get them to fully commit to his system and would it allow the already talented players here to thrive? That has been emphatically answered to this point already. If anything, both van Dijk and Salah look better now then they did over the final few months of last season.

Slot's more controlled and possession based tactics are a perfect fit for how both these guys want to play the game. He also gives Salah a lot more creating responsibilities than previous years and it has only pushed our No. 11 to a new level in his passing game.

So, both players are looking like some of the absolute best in the world once again, Liverpool are thriving, and Slot has them fully bought in. This means the club might have to accept the fact they need to pay these two to keep them here as long as possible.

Open the coffers, they have earned it once again.