Arne Slot has concerningly been proven right about Mohamed Salah's decline at Liverpool - opinion
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Mohamed Salah’s numbers have declined a great deal in the 2025/26 season, and Arne Slot knew a decline was on the horizon.Though he did find the back of the net in the 2-1 defeat to Wolves on Tuesday, Salah went nine games without a Premier League goal prior to that, his longest goalless streak in the competition since he moved to Anfield.It’s a stark contrast from his 2024/25 numbers, which Arne Slot was well aware he would not match. Credit: Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto/Allstar/Getty Images Mohamed Salah’s stats at this point in 2024/25 are much better than 2025/26Speaking in May 2025 after Liverpool had won their second Premier League title, Slot was asked about the standards Salah had set last term and suggested he knew he probably wouldn’t reach those numbers again during the remainder of his contract.As per The Athletic, he said: “Yeah and standards he’s probably not going to live up to in the upcoming two seasons.
I hope he can, but it’s not even necessary.”While Slot was proven right about Salah not being able to match his tally from last season, even he probably didn’t expect such a steep decline in 2025/26.Liverpool have so far played 29 league matches this term, with Salah scoring five and assisting six.Meanwhile, at this time last year, the 33-year-old had already found the back of the net 27 times in the top flight and provided 17 assists.In the Champions League, Salah scored three and assisted four during the group phase last season, compared to two goals and one assist in 2025/26. Discuss: Diomande has already proven he’s the BEST replacement for Mo Salah!
Diomande, Doue, Williams and Barcola have been named as potential options…Credit: Boris Streubel/Maciej Rogowski/Eurasia Sport Images/David Ramos/Jean Catuffe/Getty Images The reason behind Mohamed Salah’s declineThere may be a number of factors at play for the winger’s rapid drop-off this term, including Liverpool as a squad struggling and the sale of Trent Alexander-Arnold.But Darren Bent’s theory on Salah struggling seems more plausible, with the ex-Premier League star pointing out the player has now probably just lost his pace, and the sheer amount of matches he’s played have finally caught up with him.He said: “At some point it’s going to catch you up, and especially when you play, when you’re someone like Salah who relies, listen he’s a genius and he’s got great feet, he scores great goals right? But he relies a lot on his pace.“Eventually, at some point, that’s going to start to waver, and when you’re playing as many minutes as he is.”Salah will still have 12 months left on his contract come the summer, but with the Saudi Pro League still interested, it might be best for all parties if a sale were agreed.Join Our NewsletterReceive a digest of our best Liverpool content each week direct to your mailbox