Mohamed Salah storms down the tunnel following Liverpool's victory at Eintracht Frankfurt in supposed 'strop' after being benched by Arne Slot

Questions had been asked heading into that game of whether Salah, despite all that he has achieved at Anfield down the years, should be considered a guaranteed starter. On the back of signing a contract extension, the 33-year-old has endured a slow start to the 2025-26 campaign.

He has just three goals to his name, with the last of those coming in a European victory over Atletico Madrid on September 17. A lacklustre performance was put in as Premier League title holders Liverpool suffered a 2-1 defeat to arch-rivals Manchester United. Arne Slot had some big selection calls to make against Eintracht.

One of those saw him name Salah among the substitutes, having also benched his talismanic No.11 for a 1-0 loss at Galatasaray. Slot opted to go with Hugo Ekitike on the right of his attack, with record signing Alexander Isak leading the line as a central striker. Ekitike scored against the club that he severed ties with in the summer transfer window.

Salah eventually replaced Ekitike in the 74th minute. He managed three shots, with two of those on target, but was unable to hit the net or provide an assist - with criticism coming his way after opting not to tee up Florian Wirtz for what would have been a glorious opportunity for the German playmaker to open his competitive Liverpool goal account late on.

Salah cut a frustrated figure at the end of the game, despite Liverpool recovering from going a goal down to snap their sequence of four successive defeats. Daily Mail reporter Lewis Steele said on X, before deleting said post: “Mo Salah straight down the tunnel at FT. Loads and loads of positives to take from tonight for Liverpool but he looked in a strop.”

Salah did find time to clap Liverpool fans in the away end before making his way off the field. He was, however, clearly disappointed with his night’s work. Slot had told TNT Sports prior to kick off when asked why he had left Salah out and if that was a tough decision to make: “The first answer is always yes. But that is also to do with Mo and all the players I have. Every time I select a team, it's always difficult because I have so many good players. That's also the reason why I use these players.

“I liked the way we ended the game against United. Mainly the second half. Created a lot of chances. And Ryan [Gravenberch] is out, so that means we have to restructure our midfield a little bit as well - defensively and offensively. So all together with the way Frankfurt usually plays, we decided to start like this. But as always, I have players who start the game and I have players who can impact the game off the bench and that is (the case) today as well.”

Reds legend Jamie Carragher, who is among those to have suggested that Salah can no longer expect to start every game, told CBS Sports of the ‘Egyptian King’ being rotated: “It remains to be seen on the game, but I just think when Mo Salah isn't being 'the legendary Mo Salah', he gets treated like one of the other players which is right.

“And you don't forget his age as well. He's 33 years of age, Liverpool will have three games in six days. So at the moment, if he's not at his absolute best, he shouldn't play six games in three days because there's other options there as well. We know Liverpool have spent a lot of money. Liverpool have got a big game as well on Saturday, so great decision, Arne.”

Liverpool will take in a Premier League trip to Brentford on Saturday. They will then face Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup fourth round next Wednesday. A testing run before the next international break will also see them play host to Aston Villa and Real Madrid before going to Manchester City on November 9.