Mo Salah has been benched for consecutive Liverpool games for only the second time in his nine seasons at the club, with Arne Slot praising how he has handled it.
Salah was an unused substitute at West Ham and the expectation was that he would return to the starting lineup against Sunderland, but Slot opted to make only one change to his side.
Andy Robertson replaced Milos Kerkez as it was “too big a risk” to start the Hungarian for a fourth consecutive game after cramp at West Ham, Slot explained.
As for Salah, Slot appeared aware of the headlines it would create and remained composed in his response when asked by Sky Sports why his winger was, again, not starting.
“It’s always a balance between, do you want continuity after a win, or do you need fresh players?” Slot started.
“I think it’s obvious and clear that we need more than 11 players tonight, because a few of them who start are probably not able to play 90. So again, but maybe more than ever we need more than 11 players tonight.”
Then pressed on if an appearance of the bench is likely with the likes of Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz unlikely to play the full 90, he said: “All the players that are on the bench have, of course, a chance to come in.
“Mo is definitely one of them. We all know what he can mean for this team. I think Sunderland is a team that’s really intense in every phase of the game. So we need to be top [intensity] over the course of 90 minutes.
“Like I just said, we need more than 11 players tonight, and it’s a good thing that we have players like Mo, like Federico, Wata, and Curtis Jones and all the others also available.”
Salah’s reaction to being benched for Liverpool
As for how Salah has reacted to being benched, Slot commended his attitude and how he is setting an example for how to react “if you don’t play.”
“We didn’t have a long conversation this time and also not before West Ham,” Slot said of any talks he has had with the 33-year-old.
“We spoke a lot after the Frankfurt game, and now not as much as that time.
“So I think he reacts like you want a top professional to react, and that is, he trained really hard and good the day after the game [against] West Ham, and trained good yesterday.
“He is really positive towards his teammates, so I think in that sense, he’s been an example for all these players when he played, and now he’s an example of how to react if you don’t play.”
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