Paul Merson has made it clear to Liverpool and Arne Slot that they can’t afford to lose Mo Salah to injury this term.
The Sky Sports pundit has been impressed with the Egyptian international’s form this season. That’s more than understandable given the winger has registered 11 goal contributions in nine games (across all competitions) already.
“Mohamed Salah continued his heroics in midweek against Bologna in the Champions League,” the former Arsenal star wrote for Sportskeeda.
“I just think it’ll be a nightmare if Liverpool lose him when he’s in this type of form, it’s impossible to replace someone like him.”
Alarm bells were ringing when the former Roma wide man was ruled out for a month with a hamstring injury sustained during Egypt’s draw with Ghana in January. Of greater concern was the sudden decline in goal contributions and performance levels after Salah left the treatment room.
In the 11 Premier League games the forward was involved in after his return to the pitch, he delivered three goals and one assist. A stark drop-off from the 24 goal contributions tallied up across his first 21 top-flight games that season.
Fast forward to 2024/25, however, and any lingering doubts over the AFCON star’s form have long since dissipated.
Paul Merson has suggested that Arne Slot should keep the faith in Luis Diaz despite the Colombian having played the vast majority of minutes (528 minutes) on offer this season.
Cody Gakpo (signed for £44m from PSV), meanwhile, has seen himself limited to mostly cameo appearances in the league with more meaty showings between the Carabao Cup and Champions League (293 minutes).
“I would actually start Luis Diaz over Cody Gakpo in this game. Palace are not the biggest of teams in terms of height, so Gakpo’s physical presence isn’t really required her in my opinion,” Merson went on to add.
At this early stage in the campaign, we suspect our new head coach will feel inclined to take that advice on board.
Barring against Ipswich Town at the start of the 2024/25 season and Bournemouth, Slot has stuck with an unchanged starting XI in the Premier League.
With the Reds sitting pretty at the top of the table, you could very much forgive the 46-year-old for taking an ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ approach to our upcoming trip to Selhurst Park on Saturday.
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