Could Mohamed Salah really leave Liverpool after being benched for back-to-back games by Arne Slot?

The idea of Salah leaving Liverpool just over six months after signing a new contract should be absurd. As if anyone needs reminding, he didn't just play a part in the Reds romping to a record-equalling 20th English title last season, he took centre stage by producing one of the greatest individual campaigns in Premier League history.

Salah racked up 29 goals and 18 assists, resulting in him becoming the first man ever to win the Golden Boot, the Playmaker Award and Player of the Season in the same year. As far as Salah was concerned, his numerous records and sensational stats were a direct consequence of new coach Arne Slot ceding to his request to let him focus solely on scoring and creating goals.

"The tactics are quite different [to the Jurgen Klopp era]," Salah told Sky Sports. "Now I don't defend much. I said [to Slot] 'As long as you rest me defensively, I will provide offensively', so I am glad that I did. He listened a lot and you can see the numbers. When you play in the Premier League you have to defend, but I said that I can gamble and somehow I can make a difference."

Unfortunately for Salah, Slot and Liverpool, the risk is no longer proving worth the reward.

Salah is by no means the only reason why Liverpool are struggling this season: the defence is a disaster, the forwards are misfiring, while Dominik Szoboszlai is the only midfielder playing well. However, the dramatic drop in Salah's productivity is startling - and seriously hurting his side. 

For example, after 14 rounds of last season's Premier League, Salah had propelled Liverpool to the top of the table with 13 goals and seven assists. This time around, the Reds are currently languishing in eighth place, with Salah having contributed just four goals and two assists.

Worse still, opponents are now targeting Liverpool's right-hand side even more than they did when Trent Alexander-Arnold was stationed behind Salah - and to great effect.

"We know that Salah is always ready for the counter-attack," Chelsea left-back Marc Cucurella told Sky Sports after setting up Estevao for a last-minute winner against the Reds on October 4. "So, we practiced that, and the manager (Enzo Maresca) said that the space might be there."

Slot initially defended the freedom afforded to Salah, arguing that in the very same game against Chelsea there were "five or six moments where Mo could have made the difference for us" because the Egypt international was still being allowed to remain so high up the field.

"And if that would have happened, then we would have had a conversation like last season, where he so many times made the difference for us," Slot told reporters. "But if that doesn't happen then you get comments like this [from Cucurella]. It's always about the balance between winger and full-backs. I want our full-backs to attack as well, so we have to find the right balance in that, but we are conceding too many crosses compared to last season, and this is something I'm aware of and we have to do better."

It seems that Slot has now decided that taking Salah out of the starting line-up is the best solution to this particular problem.

Against West Ham last Sunday, Slot deployed the multi-talented Szoboszlai on the right-hand side, with Joe Gomez tucked in behind him. Unsurprisingly, Liverpool looked far more solid in defence and kept their first clean sheet for nearly a month. In addition, Florian Wirtz flourished in the attacking midfield role vacated by Szoboszlai.

Consequently, Slot elected to make just one change for Wednesday's visit of Sunderland, with Andy Robertson taking over at left-back from Milos Kerkez, who had gone down with a cramp at the London Stadium. However, Jamie Carragher, who has been very critical of Salah's media silence during Liverpool's shocking slump, was "surprised" by the decision not to recall the forward.

"I've said this season I don't think Mo Salah should play every game, but when I said that I was thinking predominantly away games - not so much at Anfield," Carragher explained on Sky. "Arne Slot can dress the weekend up as Liverpool have four games in 10 days, and you have to look at which games you play him in.

"Sunderland will play deep and make it difficult so I expected this to be the one where Salah plays. For him to be on the bench doesn't feel like rest or rotation; it's dropped. But sooner or later Liverpool do have to pivot away from being the Salah team and towards being the Wirtz and (Alexander) Isak team, and maybe we saw a glimpse of that [at West Ham]."

However, if Sunday at least hinted at a brighter future, Wednesday provided an immediate reminder of the grim reality of Liverpool's present predicament.

Benching Salah clearly isn't going to suddenly solve all of Liverpool's problems. The 45 minutes they played without him against Sunderland were even worse than the 45 minutes they played with him, which only served to hammer home the point that Slot has far more profound tactical and psychological issues to address.

Put quite simply, Liverpool look lost at the moment, devoid of confidence and coherency, and what's become painfully clear is that progress is not being made. Salah, then, shouldn't be made a scapegoat for Slot's inability to arrest a slide that would have already got him sacked at arguably any other elite European team.

The Reds may have rallied to pick up a point against Sunderland, but the first half on Wednesday was as insipid and ineffective as anything they produced in their recent three-goal losses to Manchester City, Nottingham Forest and PSV. Wirtz may have impressed once again, but Isak was anonymous and Cody Gakpo was hauled off at half-time. Perhaps most worryingly of all, Virgil van Dijk can no longer be relied upon to lead by example at the back. 

In that context, whether Salah starts or not is somewhat irrelevant, as Slot's side lacks both balance and belief no matter who plays. 

There is absolutely no denying, though, that the Salah situation is going to remain a major talking point before, during and after the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations. After all, we're talking about one of the greatest players in Liverpool's history, making his dreadful dip in form the subject of great debate.

Carragher claimed recently that "his legs have gone", but that's very hard to believe (and also arguably offensive), given Salah was ripping up the Premier League six months ago and is renowned for keeping himself in excellent physical condition.

However, it would be very interesting to know where his mind is at right now. When Salah signed his new deal, he repeatedly expressed how "happy" and "excited" he was to do so, as he believed Liverpool capable of winning more major titles, and that no longer looks the case. Slot also said that Salah accepted being dropped for the West Ham win with his usual level of "professionalism", but he can't have been happy at being left out again on Wednesday.

"Salah needs confidence and love from a manager," Redknapp said on Sky. "So, for [Slot] to leave him out in a situation where you're possibly going to lose him for eight games at AFCON... You've got to play him while you can. He is Liverpool's superstar footballer, but the manager clearly doesn't believe that right now.

"I wouldn't compare it to when Alan Shearer was left out by Ruud Gullit all those years ago and it ended up being a massive clash where one had to go, but it does feel like something has to give, because there is no way Mohamed Salah is going to be content being a bit-part player in this team. I don't feel it's going to end well either way."

Redknapp's fear certainly isn't without foundation. Crazy as it may sound, there is a chance that one of Salah and Slot won't be at Liverpool come the end of January - which would just be the most incredible of turnarounds given how successfully they combined to deliver a title last season. 

At the same time, it wouldn't be at all surprising to see Salah recalled for Saturday's must-win trip to Leeds United (particularly as Slot appears to have an inexplicable lack of faith in Federico Chiesa), while there will be two further opportunities for the winger to remind everyone of his enduring class, against Inter and Brighton, before he heads off to Morocco later this month.

If the last two games have taught us anything, though, it's that Salah is no longer a certain starter under Slot and the attacker's status is only likely to be further undermined while he's away on international duty. The story continues, then, but it might finish more abruptly - and more painfully - than anyone could have possibly predicted back in April.