After an explosive week, Arne Slot will chat to Mohamed Salah before deciding whether to include him in the squad to face Brighton and Hove Albion.
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- READ MORE: Every word from Slot about Salah on Monday
If involved, this will be the Egyptian’s last match with Liverpool before he jets off to the African Cup of Nations (AFCON).
“I will have a conversation with Mo this morning and the outcome of that conversation determines how it will look tomorrow.
“What I need is a conversation with him. I think the next time I speak about Mo should be with him and not in here. You can keep on trying but there is not much more to say about it [other than] that I speak to him today and, like I said, the outcome of that conversation determines how things will look tomorrow.
“I think we have decided as a club, and I was part of that decision, not to take him to the Inter Milan game. I’m always in contact with [the club executives], but when it comes to the decision-making of the line-up or the squad, they always leave that open to me. – Arne Slot on Mohamed Salah
On the injury front, Slot is monitoring Alexander Isak after the striker picked up another knock in midweek.
“Alex also got a knock in the first half, so let’s see how he has recovered from that today – if he’s able to start tomorrow and, if he’s able, if I make the decision to start [Isak and Hugo Ekitike] again together, or we do it in a different way.” – Arne Slot on Alexander Isak
Recent casualties Cody Gakpo (muscle) and Wataru Endo (ankle) remain out, as do Jeremie Frimpong (hamstring), Stefan Bajcetic (hamstring), Jayden Danns (hamstring) and Giovanni Leoni (ACL).
“It’s going to be weeks. With Cody, it’s a muscle injury and Wata is an ankle injury.” – Arne Slot on Cody Gakpo and Wataru Endo
Federico Chiesa (illness) should be back, however.
“Federico is not ill anymore. He trained yesterday and will train today again, so I assume he’s ready to be in the squad tomorrow again.” – Arne Slot on Federico Chiesa
In defence, Conor Bradley serves a one-match ban for yellow card accumulation.
Meanwhile, Slot discussed his two-striker set-up in Milan, in which Isak and Hugo Ekitike started together.
“I think what we all saw – and which is completely normal – the more they will play together, the more they will adapt to each other and the better they will cooperate. I think it’s fair to say that the other two that were on the pitch, the two No.9s – [Marcus] Thuram and Lautaro Martinez – were more used to playing with each other.
“But I saw also promising things from the both of them. It’s been the second time they’ve played together for obvious reasons, because match fitness is the obvious reason for that. And I think we will see more of this in the future of them playing together.” – Arne Slot on Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike
