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| Liverpool Face Tottenham as Arne Slot Confirms Mohamed Salah Drama Is Over |
Liverpool will travel to north London this weekend to take on Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League, aiming to extend their positive run of form despite being without Mohamed Salah.
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has made it clear that the controversy surrounding Mohamed Salah is now firmly in the past. Speaking ahead of the clash with Spurs, Slot emphasized that the team is fully focused on the upcoming match rather than revisiting old issues.
Salah previously grabbed headlines after a surprising post-match interview following Liverpool’s 3–3 draw with Leeds United, where he was left unused on the bench. The Egyptian star suggested he had been “thrown under the bus” and revealed that his relationship with Slot had deteriorated during the 2025–26 season.
Following the incident, Salah was left out of Liverpool’s squad for their 1–0 Champions League win over Inter. However, he quickly returned against Brighton. Although he started on the bench, Salah came on in the 26th minute to replace the injured Joe Gomez and went on to provide an assist for Hugo Ekitike in Liverpool’s 2–0 victory.
Salah’s overall contribution to Liverpool remains remarkable. He has now recorded 277 goal involvements in the Premier League for the club, with 188 goals and 89 assists. This is the highest total ever achieved by a single player for one club in the competition, surpassing Wayne Rooney’s record with Manchester United.
Slot confirmed that there are no lingering problems between him and Salah, especially after the forward departed to represent Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations.
“I said last week that actions speak louder than words,” Slot explained. “We’ve moved on. He was in the squad and was my first substitution. Now he’s at AFCON, playing important matches, so the focus should be on Egypt.”
Liverpool’s win over Brighton extended their unbeaten run to five matches across all competitions. Slot believes the team is improving at the right moment, particularly in terms of fitness and consistency.
“I’ve had to use players who weren’t fully fit too often this season,” he said. “Now I see progress, not just from new players but from everyone. Their fitness is improving, and that’s reflected in their performances.”
Looking ahead to the Tottenham match, Liverpool can take confidence from last season’s results. The Reds won both league meetings against Spurs with emphatic scorelines of 6–3 and 5–1, with the latter confirming their 20th top-flight title.
However, Liverpool will be without Cody Gakpo, who is expected to be sidelined until the new year. Joe Gomez also remains unavailable. There is some positive news, as Dominik Szoboszlai could feature after returning to training following an ankle injury.
“Cody’s scan looked promising, so we’re not too worried,” Slot said. “But he won’t be ready for tomorrow. Joe is also out. Dominik trained for the first time yesterday, so we’ll see how he feels.”
With momentum building and internal issues resolved, Liverpool will be hoping to deliver another strong performance against Tottenham, even in the absence of Mohamed Salah.
