Arne Slot Press Conference: Brighton & Hove Albion (H)
by Ben Shaw
Arne Slot spoke to the press ahead of Liverpool's home fixture against Brighton on Saturday, a game that is simply a must win if The Reds want to steer the ship in the right direction over the Christmas period.
Mohammed Salah Latest
As has dominated the headlines all week, the future of Mohammed Salah at Liverpool continues to be the forefront of questions towards Arne Slot, following the Egyptian's bombshell comments following being left on the bench and without a minute played against Leeds United in the 3-3 draw last weekend.
Slot provided a brief update on the situation, suggesting today's conversations may be vital in not only his selections for tomorrow but more importantly the future of Salah at Liverpool as a whole.
“I will have a conversation with Mo this morning. The outcome of that will determine how it looks tomorrow.”
Credit: RTE
Salah has featured in 45 of the possible 270 minutes in the past three Premier League fixtures, coming off the bench in a 1-1 draw with Sunderland. His ommision from the squad only grew after he was left out of the squad for Tuesday's late win against Inter Milan in the Champions League following the comments made to Norwegian outlets last weekend.
Slot went into further detail regarding the decision to leave the 3-time PFA Player of The Year out of Tuesday's squad, stating that it was the decision of the club as a whole to take this action, not just himself.
Credit: Sky Sports
"We decided as a club and I was part of that decision not to take him to the Inter Milan game. When it comes to the decision-making of the line-up or the squad, that is down to me but that is not to say I don't talk to them (Richard Hughes and FSG)"
Arne Slot's addressing of the Salah situation was short and sheltered following the mid-week victory over Inter Milan, however it appears that the conversations with Clarence Seedorf and Daniel Sturridge as part of TNT Sports' coverage may have benefited the situation. Slot stated that "The next time I talk about Mo should be with him. I have no reasons to not want him to stay."
Injury Updates
Two new concerns for Liverpool have emerged in the recent days as both Cody Gakpo and Wataru Endo have been side-lined. The Dutch winger will be out for "weeks" with a muscular issue whilst Endo has an ankle problem that could further reduce his already small contributions to the side so far this season.
One bit of positive news is that Federico Chiesa has recovered from man-flu and will be back in training with the team today.
Alexander Isak is also a doubt for tomorrow's fixture after picking up a knock in the Champions League mid-week.
"If he's able to start tomorrow and, if he's able, I make the decision to start them [Isak and Hugo Ekitike] again together, or we do it in a different way."
Brighton Asessment
Arne Slot had little to say about tomorrow's opposition, given the majority of the questions posed to the dutchman were in regards to Salah. However, he did comment on the involvement of Alisson Becker or Giorgi Mamardishivili by saying the pair haven't "had much to do because we have hardly conceded chances."
This press conference was always going to be about one man and one man only, the future of Mohammed Salah still hangs in the balance as rumours continue to circulate as to where the Egyptian King could reside come the end of the January transfer window. Today could prove to be vital in how this unfortunate rift between Slot and Salah pans out.