With Mohamed Salah left out of the squad, Liverpool’s attacking options are significantly weakened ahead of tomorrow’s game against Inter Milan, with Arne Slott confirming the disappointing news regarding Codi Gakpo. Despite taking part in regular training at the AXA training center on Monday morning, Salah remains on Merseyside while his colleagues travel to Italy for a crucial Champions League fixture.
The club made this choice with the full support of Mr. Slott, who believed that a temporary break from selection was in the best interests of the organization, the team and Salah personally following the weekend’s abuse. Salah, 33, launched a scathing attack against both Liverpool and Slott after being left off the bench for the third straight game against Leeds, with Salah claiming the club had “thrown him under the bus” and that his relationship with the manager had completely deteriorated.
By leaving him out of the squad for the trip to Milan, Liverpool lose one of their key attacking weapons ahead of this important European fixture.
The Reds currently sit 13th in the Champions League after an embarrassing home defeat to PSV Eindhoven last week, leaving them just one point out of the top eight and avoiding an extra play-off round.
However, Salah is not the only player absent, two more forwards are also absent. Gakpo and Federico Chiesa were also excluded after missing training on Monday. Slott said: “Federico is sick, so you could say the timing was bad, but there’s nothing we can do about it.”
“So we’re monitoring his situation. If he makes an amazing recovery – which neither I nor our doctors expected – he might travel tomorrow. But I’d like to be pretty hopeful, but that’s not my expectation. And unfortunately Kodi Gakpo picked up an injury in the last game against Leeds and will be out for a few weeks.”
This leaves Liverpool’s attacking options severely limited. Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike are the only recognized forwards in the squad, so Florian Wirtz and Dominik Szoboszlai may need to step up and cover on the wing.
Szoboszlai has recently played in the right-wing role during Salah’s absence, while Wirths had already played on the left during his short spell at Liverpool. Other than these players, there are few options.
The only other available forward is 17-year-old Rio Ngumoha, who could potentially make his Champions League debut. The lack of attacking options adds to the challenges for the slot, which include dealing with the fallout from Salah’s recent outburst and disappointing performance of just four wins in his last 15 games.
Liverpool will be without Wataru Endo, who missed Monday’s training session, as well as injured Jeremy Frimpong and Giovanni Leoni. Frimpong, who has replaced Salah on the right wing this season, would have been another potential attacking option.
