Jurgen Klopp made a number of interesting changes for Liverpool’s game against West Ham United on Saturday afternoon.
The Reds were looking for a big response after being humbled against Everton in their last match on Wednesday.
There were several players who were noticeably poor at Goodison Park. Ibrahima Konate was perhaps the worst of the bunch and was rightfully dropped for the game in East London.
But Konate was far from being alone in his troubles. Darwin Nunez was another who drew intense criticism after the game having failed to take a couple of big chances against Everton. Nunez was also on the bench against West Ham.
And so too was Mohamed Salah. In perhaps the worst form of his Liverpool career, few could argue with Salah withdrawing from the XI. But watching the warm-up at the London Stadium, pundit Jan Aage Fjortoft claimed that the Egyptian himself did not look best pleased.
What was Mo Salah doing before playing West Ham
It’s hard to put your finger on exactly what has gone wrong for Salah over recent times. The overarching feeling is that the 31-year-old just never recovered fully from his injury.
Not used to missing games, Salah simply hasn’t been able to get back into the rhythm we’re so used to seeing him in.
Nevertheless, he does remain Liverpool’s best source of goals. With the Reds struggling to find the net of late, that still makes it a big call from Klopp leaving him out.
And taking to X in the build-up to the game, Fjortoft shared a video he’d taken from pitch-side as the Liverpool substitutes warmed up.
“Salah on the bench….not happy….shouldn’t be,” said the caption. We can’t say that Mo looked best pleased at the start of the clip, but he does crack a smile and a laugh a little later on.
How are Liverpool doing without Salah
Liverpool’s game against West Ham very much has an end of season feel to it. With both teams in poor form and not really playing for much, that’s hardly a surprise.
Despite that, the Reds have done okay, creating some decent looking opportunities from open play. Although there have been some good sights of goal though, Liverpool are yet to score.
There just looks to be a complete lack of confidence in front of goal no matter who is playing right now.
Harvey Elliott has come in for Salah and has probably had Liverpool’s best chance so far. Arriving late at the far post, Elliott could only smash into the side netting. Disappointing.
No doubt we’ll see Mo at some point and hopefully he comes on with a point to prove.