Liverpool are now preparing for the Merseyside derby against Everton on Wednesday night as they aim to keep their Premier League title hopes alive.

Jurgen Klopp’s team selection for that clash at Goodison Park is going to be interesting because Liverpool’s recent win at Fulham got people talking.

Previously, it has been a week to forget for the club, with that costly defeat to Crystal Palace and then crashing out of the Europa League.

But going into the game at Craven Cottage, Klopp was brave with his team selection because he dropped Mohamed Salah and Alexis Mac Alisster to the bench, whilst eventual goalscorer Ryan Gravenberch made a rare start and scored a crucial goal for his team.

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Was this rotation by the Liverpool boss?

The team have been involved in a lot of fixtures since returning from international duty.

Or was it a case of sending out a message to his misfiring players that even the best of the best, such as Salah, can find themselves on the bench?!

Shaun Wright-Phillips thinks it had nothing to do with rest and is based purely on form, as he told Premier League Productions (22/04/24 at 2:35 pm).

Since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations, where he got injured with Egypt, Wright-Phillips thinks Salah is a ‘different player altogether’ for the wrong reasons.

That has been proven in games against Manchester United, even when he scored against Brighton, Palace and in Europe.

He, along with his teammates, need chance after chance after chance, just to score. 

And even then, the ball might not go into the back of the net.

“I think that’s why he changed the front line, I don’t think it has anything to do with rest, personally,” said Wright-Phillips.

“I think it’s more to do with putting on chances they are creating because, to be fair, as good as Salah is, since he has come back from injury and the Africa Cup of Nations, he has been a different player altogether in front of goal.”

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You know he just needs that one moment.

The moment Salah takes his chance at the first time of asking, it will spark trouble for the opposition.

And what a way to do that then in the Merseyside derby?!

Let’s be honest, all the pressure is on Liverpool here because they are going for the Premier League title and Everton eased their relegation fears by beating Nottingham Forest at the weekend.

Not even a point would be accepted here, so get Salah back into the XI, alongside Diogo Jota, and continue the club’s title charge.
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