Mohamed Salah was dropped to the Liverpool substitutes’ bench by coach Arne Slot for Wednesday’s Champions League clash against Eintracht Frankfurt in Germany following a five-game run without scoring.
Florian Wirtz, the £100 million ($133.58m) signing from Bayer Leverkusen, started in midfield after being benched for the Premier League defeats against Chelsea and Manchester United.
With Liverpool aiming to avoid suffering a fifth successive defeat for the first time since September 1953, Slot recalled former Frankfurt forward Hugo Ekitike to the starting lineup in place of Salah, while £125 million summer signing Alexander Isak keeping his place in the team despite scoring just one goal in seven games since his deadline day transfer from Newcastle.
Arne Slot has not included Mohamed Salah in Liverpool’s starting XI. Oliver Hardt – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images
Salah, 33, signed a new two-year contract at Liverpool at the end of last season after scoring 29 goals and registering 18 assists to fire Slot’s team to the Premier League title.
But after netting just three goals in 11 games in all competitions so far this season — Salah has also registered three assists — Slot has opted to keep faith with new signing Isak in an effort to kick-start his form for the club.
France international Ekitike faces Frankfurt for the first time since leaving the Bundesliga club for Anfield this summer in a £69 million transfer.
The Egyptian also started on the bench for Liverpool’s last Champions League match — a 1-0 defeat to Galatasaray on Sept. 30.
– Wednesday’s Champions League action: Follow ESPN’s live blog
– Liverpool in crisis: The stats behind the champions’ losing streak
– Ogden: Should Liverpool drop Isak, Salah, or both to let Ekitike shine?
Liverpool team:
Starting XI: Giorgi Mamardashvili, Dominik Szoboszlai, Ibrahima Konaté, Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson, Jeremie Frimpong, Florian Wirtz, Curtis Jones, Cody Gakpo, Hugo Ekitike, Alexander Isak
Substitutes: Freddie Woodman, Kornel Misciur, Rio Ngumoha, Alexis Mac Allister, Milos Kerkez, Joe Gomez, Wataru Endo, Federico Chiesa, Conor Bradley, Mohamed Salah
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