On Friday evening, it emerged that Mo Salah will be included in the Liverpool matchday squad to face Brighton at Anfield this afternoon.
The Egyptian was omitted from the group which flew to Italy for the Reds’ Champions League victory over Inter Milan earlier this week, off the back of his incendiary comments following the 3-3 draw at Leeds last weekend.
Arne Slot had vowed in his pre-match press conference yesterday morning that he’d speak to the player on Friday with a view to potentially incorporating him back into the fold to face the Seagulls, and subsequent ‘positive discussions’ paved the way for a recall for the 33-year-old.
James Pearce welcomes Salah recall for Brighton clash
James Pearce reported on that news for The Athletic on Friday evening and duly provided his own take on the situation, describing it as a ‘welcome decision’ for the squad and that it’ll bring ‘a huge sense of relief’ after fears in recent days that Salah’s Liverpool career may already be over.
However, the journalist warned that the Egyptian’s recall to the fold for today’s match is by no means the end of the story, writing: ‘It would be naive to think that the situation has been completely resolved.
‘Salah couldn’t contain his frustration after being left out of the starting line-up for three successive matches and there are no guarantees that he will walk straight back into the side after AFCON.
‘Liverpool have won two and drawn two since Salah was dropped, with Slot changing the system to make the team more compact.’
Mo Salah has been recalled to the Liverpool squad for their match against Brighton
(Photo by Lewis Storey/Getty Images)
Temporary truce or a lasting resolution between Salah and Slot?
As Pearce says, Salah’s recall to the matchday squad doesn’t automatically mean that he’ll start today for the first time in five Liverpool matches, but at least Slot has given himself the option of doing so amid Cody Gakpo’s injury and doubts over Alexander Isak’s fitness.
As we know, this is the Reds’ final fixture before the Egyptian departs for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) on Monday, so even if he does feature against Brighton, it’ll be the last we see of him at Anfield for several weeks.
It seems paradoxical that LFC have been on their longest unbeaten run in three months without their third-highest scorer of all time in the starting XI, although questions had been asked of the winger’s form before his axing from the line-up over the past fortnight.
Nonetheless, it’s an encouraging sign that Slot and Salah have sufficiently made peace to facilitate the 33-year-old’s availability for today’s fixture, one in which Liverpool will need to be at their very best to claim victory against a team who’ve often had our number in recent years.
We don’t know yet whether this is merely a temporary truce or the first big step towards a lasting reconciliation, but at least it’s a sign that the two men can work through any personal differences for the collective good, and it’s the collective which always matters most at Anfield.
You can watch Slot’s full pre