Is Mo Salah’s Liverpool swan song coming this weekend?

Article content

It’s impossible to recall another campaign of a title defender like the one Liverpool are enduring.

Article content

They won their record-tying 20th title last season and went out and spent a record amount of money on top-class players to bolster their credentials well into the future.

Article content

Article content

On top of adding British-record signings Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak, they dished out mega contract extensions to Mo Salah, 32 and Virgil van Dijk, 33.

This went against the grain as owners FSG, which also owns the Boston Red Sox and Pittsburgh Penguins, have a model where they don’t invest big money in players past a certain age — in soccer that age has been 30.

They won the first five games of the season and then everything collapsed. They lost four in a row and everyone asked what was wrong with Liverpool.

They beat Aston Villa and Real Madrid (in Champions League play) and it looked like the ship was righted. Then they looked way out of their league getting crushed 3-0 by Manchester City, PSV in the Champions League 4-1 and getting embarrassed at home, 3-0 to Nottingham Forest.

Article content

Things were getting worse, not better. Isak has scored one league goal, Wirtz has yet to score for his new team.

Last week, Liverpool were up 2-0 to Leeds and cruising — it collapsed again. Leeds equalized, Liverpool went back ahead 3-2 then conceded a tying goal in the 96th minute to drop two more points. And yet that wasn’t the worst thing to happen to Liverpool at Leeds.

Salah, who didn’t play a part in the game and hadn’t started the past three games in a row, came out after the match and approached media in the mixed zone. He proceeded to unleash a premeditated seven-minute screed attacking manager Arne Slot, the club and the owners, saying promises had been broken, he was being made out to be the cause of Liverpool’s rot and he was being “thrown under the bus” by the club.

Article content

Article content

He also said that he asked his parents to come to this weekend’s game against Brighton as it would be his last game at the club — he leaves following this weekend for the African Cup of Nations to play with Egypt and his message was clear: If Slot remains as manager, he won’t be there.

Here’s the reality: In 420 games for Liverpool, the normally media-shy Salah had stopped to speak to media three times. Once to celebrate his record goal season and then last year at Old Trafford to claim he was playing his last match in Manchester as Liverpool had not offered him a new contract — and then his attack on Saturday. When Salah speaks to the media, it’s choreographed.

While Liverpool’s collapse threw away two points, they have gone unbeaten in their past three and were starting to show signs of recovery. But Salah, whose contract is paying him an eye-watering $730,000 a week, has just four goals this season.

Article content

He was last year’s Premier League Golden Boot winner, he shares the record with Thierry Henry as the only players to win it four times, but this season he has been dire.

He doesn’t track back defensively and has left the team exposed numerous times, his touch has abandoned him as he has been wasteful in possession. He’s not scoring and not creating, he only has two assists this season.

Whether he hasn’t been able to move past the death of his good friend Diogo Jota, or age has caught up with him, or he’s not meshing with Liverpool’s new players, he’s being paid a record amount.

You wouldn’t expect him to be happy at not playing, but instead of going and unloading behind closed doors, doing it publicly put his manager, the executives running the club and his teammates in a dreadful position. It was a selfish outburst of the highest order.

Article content

Liverpool had a Champions League game in Milan against Internazionale on Tuesday. Inter, last year’s Champions League runner-up are one point off the lead in Serie A and have won four of their past five games. Liverpool were without forwards Cody Gakpo, Federico Chiesa and still left Salah at home. They produced one of their best games of the season, winning 1-0.

Will Salah play this weekend? How will the crowd react? Will it be his last game for Liverpool?

All in all, a tremendously sad situation for a player who has provided so much joy for Liverpool and who moved his name up to the top of the sports awareness with his achievements. Oh, and he has become incredibly wealthy in the process.

Liverpool are in good standing to move on in the Champions League to the knockout phase. They are in 10th place in the league, but only two points out of the Champions League qualification for next season.

Article content

This match against Brighton is massively important for them to salvage the riches of that competition for next season. Yet all that is put on the back burner to satiate Salah’s bruised ego.

Stock up

Leeds: After falling into a rough patch and the perils of being mired in the relegation zone looming, Leeds have beaten Chelsea and had a heroic comeback against Liverpool. They are in 16th so they still have work to do but beating Brentford this weekend would really give them a leg up.

Manchester City: A tough visit to fourth-placed Crystal Palace looms, but after winning four of their past five they’ve capitalized on Arsenal’s wobble and are just two points off the leaders. A scary proposition for the Gunners.

Aston Villa: The Premier League’s hottest team, they beat Arsenal last weekend to move up to third place and within three points of the top. It’s stunning to think they didn’t win a game until their sixth match of the season and didn’t score a goal until their fifth fixture this campaign. Now they get woeful West Ham and can keep pressing Arsenal with a win.

Article content

Stock down

Chelsea: They moved up into second place and gained a draw off Arsenal when they had been reduced to 10 men, and it looked like the season was on the up. Since then, they’ve lost to Leeds and drawn with Bournemouth as well as losing to Atalanta in the Champions League. They’ve dropped to fifth and have a challenging match with Everton this weekend, winners of four of their past five.

Brentford: A promising start has seen them plunge to 14th. Must beat Leeds this weekend.

Arsenal: They’re still in great shape, have been rolling through the Champions League, but a chance to grab the league by the throat has gone missing, dropping five of the past nine points on offer. City and Villa are lurking, but Wolves — who have just two points from 15 games — are up next. Instant remedy.

Article content

Crisis Club

Bournemouth: Their most recent win was against Nottingham Forest in October. Since then, they’ve lost four and drawn two and sit in 13th. Their squad depth is thin and they play Manchester United this weekend. They must stop the slide.

This weekend’s schedule

Saturday: Chelsea vs Everton; Liverpool vs Brighton; Burnley vs Fulham; Arsenal vs Wolves.

Sunday: Crystal Palace vs Manchester City; Nottingham Forest vs Tottenham; Sunderland vs Newcastle; West Ham vs Aston Villa; Brentford vs Leeds.

Monday: Manchester United vs Bournemouth.

Article content