Our Liverpool writers have their say over whether Mohamed Salah should start his final game in a red shirt after what he said on social media
05:00, 20 May 2026
Arne Slot has been told to drop Mohamed Salah
The question concerning Mohamed Salah at the end of last week was whether he would be fit to start his last match in a Liverpool shirt. That question, among the pundits at least, has now shifted to whether he should play at all.
Salah made his return from a three-week injury lay-off after coming on as a substitute in Friday’s 4-2 loss at Aston Vila. It was a bad defeat in isolation, given what was at stake, but the sorry second-half showing ramped up fears that this is just what the Reds may amount to now.
The Egyptian superstar seems to share those fears given what he posted on social media the day after the Villa Park debacle.
That outburst has led to a debate among the likes of Wayne Rooney and Jamie Carragher over whether Arne Slot should keep the fit-again Salah out of the starting line-up for his Liverpool farewell against Brentford at Anfield on Sunday.
And, here, our Reds writers have their say…
Paul Gorst
From both a pragmatic and an emotional perspective, dropping Mohamed Salah for Sunday’s final Premier League game makes zero sense.
Liverpool’s frontline in his absence has been toothless with no-one particularly convincing on that right side against either Chelsea or Manchester United while the 33-year-old has been out injured. Jeremie Frimpong has a jury still out on his suitability at Anfield and Dominik Szoboszlai is best suited to a central role.
So, put simply, it would ludicrous to not start Salah, even if Arne Slot may be able to claim the Egyptian is not 100% after a recent hamstring issue that forced him at home to Crystal Palace.
But let’s face it, Liverpool’s attack has been a tough watch this season even with Salah in the side so leaving him out to make some sort of political point over his social media post last week would mean Slot is cutting his nose off to spite his face.
And it would deny the 60,000 fans in attendance the chance to properly give Salah the goodbye he so richly deserves as the third highest goalscorer of all time on the red half of Merseyside.
Salah’s bond with the Liverpool fans was forged long before Slot’s arrival at Anfield and with respect to the Dutch coach, it is one that will endure long after he has left the club, so leaving out the attacker would be cruel, regardless of the disagreements behind the scenes this season.
Ian Doyle
Sorry to get all semantic about it, but given Mohamed Salah was on the bench at Aston Villa – and, like most of Liverpool’s players, didn’t exactly do much when he came on as substitute – he technically can’t be dropped from the starting line-up.
But the fact is, since his return from the Africa Cup of Nations in late January, Salah has started every game for which he has been available with the exception of the wingerless experiment that backfired at Paris Saint-Germain in April.
In that time he has scored seven times and provided five assists. Dominik Szoboszlai, with seven strikes and seven assists, is the only player with more goal contributions for Liverpool.
While Salah is very much on the decline and nowhere near his levels of as recently as last season, he has still been important for a Liverpool forward line that has been decimated by injuries and poor form.
That, though, doesn’t necessarily mean the Egyptian automatically starts against Brentford given Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak are also likely vying for a role.
In truth, Liverpool could probably do with Szoboszlai in the heart of midfield so the right wing berth is likely to be open for selection, and Salah is the best choice for that.
Slot, then, would be wise to start Salah regardless of anything else that has happened. And in that case, the Egyptian will almost certainly be substituted before the end – providing both one final ovation and a symbolic passing of the baton should he be replaced by Rio Ngumoha. Sometimes this kind of thing just writes itself.
Mark Jones
The only reason for Arne Slot to take Wayne Rooney’s advice and leave Mohamed Salah out of Sunday’s visit of Brentford would be if the Liverpool head coach was on a mission to anger every single Liverpool supporter before the campaign is out.
Relations between Slot and his No.11 are obviously less than cordial, but they only need to share a dressing room for one more game. Surely both parties, and indeed everyone else involved, can put their differences aside and simply get on with the job?
It has been a bruising season at Liverpool. Egos and reputations have been damaged in equal measure, and the unity which was built up during the Jurgen Klopp years and subsequently taken on all the way to last season’s title by Slot seems to have been eroded. As FSG remain determined to stick with the Dutchman, it remains to be seen whether this campaign has done lasting damage.
Take everything else away though, including all the tributes that will be paid to Salah and Andy Robertson before the game, and Slot’s command over his team and their outspoken star player, and Liverpool need a right winger on Sunday. They also need someone to put the ball in the net, and right now Salah is as reliable a source of goals available as they’ve got.
It could be that an impact off the bench, perhaps saving all of his energy for a late goal in front of the Kop, would be a preferred outcome on Salah’s swansong, but the man himself will surely want to start and right now, among this group of Liverpool players, he has to.
For the final time Liverpool should give Salah what he wants. The future without him starts at the full-time whistle.