Liverpool: Should Mohamed Salah start against Brentford or has Arne Slot found his formula? | Football News
Arne Slot’s bold selections paid off for Liverpool against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League, but what team should the Dutchman pick against Brentford on Saturday?
Slot opted for something different in Germany in an attempt to change Liverpool’s fortunes.
Using a 4-2-2-2 formation, he paired Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike together for the first time, while Florian Wirtz also started as the Dutchman put his faith in £300m-worth of new talent to stop the rot.
It meant talisman Mohamed Salah was named on the bench and the brave decisions paid dividends.
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The Reds scored five goals through five different goalscorers for a confidence-boosting 5-1 victory, with the only blot on a near-perfect night being the injury picked up by Isak, who was forced off at half-time.
The week Slot found Liverpool’s formula?
Liverpool were beaten by Man Utd – their fourth straight defeat in all competitions – as Slot’s team selection became a hot topic for debate
Jamie Carragher said on Super Sunday that Salah shouldn’t be a guaranteed starter for the Reds
On MNF, Carragher suggested playing Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike together as a way to fit in all of Slot’s summer signings
Carragher responded on X to his suggested Liverpool XI saying Dominik Szoboszlai would be in the team after initially leaving him out, showing the difficulty of Slot’s team selection
On Wednesday, Slot leaves Salah out of his starting XI as Liverpool beat Eintracht Frankfurt 5-1
Ekitike and Isak played together for a half before the latter picked up an injury as Slot tried a new formation in Germany
Does Slot stick with the same formula against Brentford? Or does Salah return?
So, what does Slot do now?
Does he stick with the formation that helped Liverpool to victory in Frankfurt? Does Salah return? Does he replace the injured Isak? Is Ekitike now Liverpool’s starting No 9?
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Do Wirtz and Cody Gakpo continue on the flanks? Does Curtis Jones continue ahead of Alexis Mac Alister alongside Dominik Szoboszlai? Does Ryan Gravenberch return, if fit? Is Andy Robertson ahead of Milos Kerkez now? And what about the right back spot after Jeremie Frimpong’s injury?
Despite the big win, there’s still plenty of thinking for Slot to do ahead of the weekend!
Right now, on the back of his performance in Frankfurt, Hugo Ekitike is Liverpool’s first-choice No 9 and it is Alexander Isak who has got to find his way into the team.
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So, if you were in Slot’s shoes, what would you do when Liverpool travel to west London on Saturday evening looking to get back to winning ways in the Premier League?
Use our interactive team selector below to pick YOUR Reds XI to face Brentford…
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