If you had told any Liverpool supporter that, so early into the club’s title defense, Mo Salah and Arne Slot’s relationship would sour to the point where the Egyptian was disciplined and left out of a traveling Champions League squad, you would have been laughed at.
After all, this duo achieved something few thought possible in 2024–25: Salah delivered his best season in a Liverpool shirt, and Slot became only the second manager of the Premier League era to bring a domestic title back to Anfield.
But this is the shocking reality that has unfolded over the past week.
Following a tough draw to Leeds United, Salah’s incendiary comments—saying he felt “thrown under the bus” and that he has “no relationship” with his manager—have created a sharp divide within the fanbase between those siding with the club’s third-highest scorer and those backing the coach who won the title in his first season in charge.
As a result of those remarks, Salah, already left out of the Starting XI for Liverpool’s previous three league games, wasn’t even brought to Milan for a massive Champions League clash with Inter.
Fortunately for Slot, his side pulled out a 1–0 win through a late Dominik Szoboszlai penalty, giving Inter their first home CL loss in 17 games.
A miss by the Hungarian would have only intensified the situation, given that Salah is typically the club’s designated spot-kick taker—underscoring how important this result was beyond the Champions League table.
Before the Inter match, Slot insisted he was focused solely on securing a win when asked about Salah’s absence.
But with a big fixture against Brighton on Saturday and No. 11 now waiting in the wings, the million-dollar question remains: will Salah return to the pitch, or will the club continue to make a legend sit and reflect?
Forgive and forget
If you ask me, it’s impossible to truly “pick a side” here. Salah may feel justified—after all, plenty of underperforming players have continued to feature regularly—but publicly undermining the manager and adding to the division during an already difficult period for the club is unacceptable.
As such, being left out of the Inter match felt like a justified decision. Still, for a professional club to function at its best, both parties would benefit from reconciling and moving past this outburst.
If Salah can even approach the form he showed last season, it would go a long way toward pushing the club back into the Champions League next year.
In fact, while the team was traveling, Salah posted a photo to his social media accounts: a selfie of him working out in the training facility’s gym with the club’s logo clearly visible in the background.
It hardly feels like an innocuous post; more likely than not, it’s Salah signaling that he’s getting straight back to work and refocusing his efforts on helping the team win.
Who knows what conversations will take place behind closed doors this week, but the optimist in me wants to believe both the club and Salah are keen to give the club icon another chance to showcase his renewed focus against the Seagulls on Saturday.
There’s every reason to hope the Egyptian King can bring his attacking prowess to the fixture.
Needing a spark
Since Cody Gakpo’s late goal against West Ham on Nov. 30, the Reds haven't seen a goal scored by a winger across their last three matches, with Salah seeing no minutes in two of them. While they haven’t lost during this stretch, play from the wide areas clearly needs improvement.
Hopefully, that's where Salah comes in.
Yes, he’s been far from his best this season, but if the recent headlines can serve as motivation, Salah may still perform at a high level—and his past numbers against Brighton and the Seagulls’ defensive record suggest he can get back on track.
Among this season's Premier League clubs, Salah has only scored more career league goals against Man United, Tottenham, Bournemouth and West Ham than he has against Brighton (10), highlighting his clear knack for finding the net against Saturday’s opponents.
Additionally, the Seagulls have shown middling defensive form this season, sitting 10th in the league for goals conceded (21), suggesting that any moment of individual brilliance from Salah could easily break the game open if the chance comes.
If a fire has truly been lit under Salah and he’s ready to give his Liverpool career one last push before leaving for AFCON, this match feels like the perfect opportunity for the Egyptian to earn a starting spot.
Final verdict
Salah has served the punishment handed to him, and with Slot confirming he believes the relationship can be repaired, I’m hopeful that both player and manager can let cooler heads prevail.
Both the Egyptian and the Dutchman were crucial in delivering Liverpool domestic glory last season, and it would be a real shame to see this partnership disintegrate at the first hint of adversity they’ve faced together.
With the chance to let tensions cool as Salah heads off to represent his national team for several weeks, I believe he should be welcomed back onto the pitch if his interactions with Slot this week prove constructive.
Salah’s goal against Brighton at Anfield last season filled me with belief that the Reds could actually win the league.
The circumstances around this fixture couldn’t be more different this time, but if Salah gets into the team and scores on Saturday, it could do wonders to steady the ship and help Liverpool’s all-time great maintain the remarkable consistency he’s delivered throughout his time at the club.