Salah has to prove his worth again at Liverpool - After being dropped by Arne Slot

LIVERPOOL, England:

The warning signs were there for Mohamed Salah.

His form wasn't great. Pundits were starting to get on his back. Fixtures were coming thick and fast for Liverpool. Plus, manager Arne Slot clearly needed to switch things up amid the team's worst run of results in more than 70 years.

And so Salah was dropped.

Indeed, he didn't even come off the bench in the crisis-averting 2-0 win at West Ham in the English Premier League on Sunday.

Cue hysteria, and maybe some overreaction.

Questions about whether this was the beginning of the end for Salah at Liverpool might be premature.

The trip to West Ham came in the middle of a run of five matches in 15 days for Liverpool. Missing out on the middle one of those -- against one of the worst teams in the league -- was hardly that big a deal even if it was the first time in 19 months that Salah began as a substitute in a Premier League game.

"Mo has had an unbelievable career here at this club and will have a very good future at this club because he's such a special player," Slot said.

"Four games in 10 days, with only 14 to 15 outfield players available for us, then you have to decide once in a while to make a certain line-up and you try to pick the best line-up for every single game."

Expect Salah to be back in the team when Liverpool host Sunderland tomorrow in a rare midweek round of matches in England's top flight.

PRESSURE

However, it does put some pressure on the 33-year-old Egyptian to start delivering, given he has just four goals so far in league play.

And it won't be long before he heads to the Africa Cup of Nations. That might be more of an acid test for Slot: If, in Salah's absence, Liverpool stumble on a formula that improves results, what does the Dutch coach do then?

There is no doubt that Liverpool are already looking to the future with the signings of Florian Wirtz (22), Hugo Ekitike (23), and Alexander Isak (26). And in Isak, who scored the opener against West Ham, Slot now has an out-and-out striker who should eventually ease the burden on Salah.

But Salah is a club great who has supreme fitness and drive and spearheaded Liverpool's charge to the league title last season.

Don't be surprised if he becomes Liverpool's go-to attacker once again when Liverpool get through this tough spell, which saw them lose eight of their previous 11 matches heading into the West Ham game.

"He has been so important for this club," Slot said. "And will be important for this club in the future."

KEY MATCHUPS

Arsenal have drawn back-to-back away games in the league but still have a five-point lead heading into a home match against Brentford.

Second-place Manchester City visit Fulham, while Chelsea -- a point further back -- are at Leeds.

Viktor Gyokeres made his return for Arsenal after four weeks out in the 1-1 draw at Chelsea on Sunday and will be pushing for a start up front.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has plenty of options in attack now, though, with Mikel Merino having filled in effectively during Gyokeres' recent absence and Gabriel Jesus also fit again after nearly a year out because of ACL damage.

Erling Haaland hasn't scored in any of his last three games ahead of Man City's trip to Fulham and suddenly has an unlikely challenger for the Golden Boot award.

That is Igor Thiago, Brentford's Brazilian striker, who has nine goals in his last eight league games and is on 11 for the season -- three behind Haaland.

- AP