Mohamed Salah is having to adapt to playing as part of a new-look Liverpool attack and change of right-back this season, following the arrivals of Alexander Isak and Jeremie Frimpong
Mohamed Salah of Liverpool during a training session at AXA Training Centre (Image: 2025 Liverpool FC)
Mohamed Salah was back in the goals on Wednesday as he helped fire Egypt to the 2026 World Cup with a brace in their 3-0 victory over Djibouti. As a result, the forward now boasts a respectable six goals and three assists from 13 appearances for club and country this season.
The only problem, for Liverpool at least, is three of those goals have come on international duty. Having been the standout player in the Premier League last season as he won both the Golden Boot and Playmaker awards, it is clear that Salah is yet to reach the same heights in the current campaign.
The 33-year-old is without a goal in his last four appearances for the Reds, while he failed to produce a goal contribution in Liverpool’s successive defeats to Crystal Palace, Galatasaray and Chelsea.
READ MORE: Florian Wirtz has already told Liverpool where to play him as he makes ‘sad’ claim about transferREAD MORE: Alexander Isak makes ‘better’ claim after Newcastle exit as Liverpool star set for big step
Enduring a poor day at the office at Stamford Bridge in particular, it is no surprise that he is facing increasing scrutiny outside of Anfield.
Salah at least issued the perfect response after reporting for international duty with his well-taken brace. Not only did his goals see Egypt qualify for the World Cup for only the fourth time in their history, but it also saw the forward become the African all-time leading goalscorer in qualification.
In familiar surroundings, the Egypt captain flourished. So it should perhaps not be overlooked at the impact of the changes he is continuing to adapt on Merseyside following a £450m summer spending spree.
Long gone are the days where, game after game, he would look to his left and see Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane. Meanwhile, Trent Alexander-Arnold’s summer switch to Real Madrid leaves Salah with a new first-choice right-back behind him for the first time in his Reds career.
The only issue is that the new first-choice option has not emerged yet, with Jeremie Frimpong, Conor Bradley and Dominik Szoboszlazi all starting in the position over Liverpool’s first 11 matches of the campaign.
Salah has started nine of his 10 appearances, with each of the trio starting three games each. Yet Frimpong has been substituted before the hour-mark in two of his outings, with Bradley departing at half-time on two occasions also.
Meanwhile, Szoboszlai was moved into midfield at the break on one of his outings in the role.
With Salah having to forge new connections after eight years of stability alongside Alexander-Arnold, the constant chopping and changing will not be aiding. All three right-backs offer different attributes, after all, and play the role rather differently.
Jeremie Frimpong is yet to make the Liverpool right-back spot his own(Image: Gerrit van Keulen/Soccrates/Getty Images)
Liverpool have at least been a little bit more stable in attack, but the Egyptian has new players to gel with in the frontline too.
A front three of Salah, Hugo Ekitike and Cody Gakpo has been Slot’s first-choice for the majority of the season, starting together six times. But the Frenchman, despite an eye-catching start, is still settling in at Anfield.
And the same is true of both Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz following their big-money moves to Merseyside.
Salah has already referenced this of course, having been used to stability in attack throughout his Reds career.
He was one-third of Liverpool’s undisputed first-choice attack alongside Firmino and Mane, but still spent a number of years alongside the likes of fringe players Divock Origi and Takumi Minamino.
Likewise, the late Diogo Jota was a long-serving team-mate, as were Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez prior to their summer departures.
Blood Red October issue on sale now
The third edition of Blood Red – your new monthly publication from the ECHO covering everything you need to know about what’s happening at Liverpool FC. is on sale now. Order your copy here or pick up at participating retailer in the Liverpool area.
In a recent interview with Men In Blazers, Salah pointed out it will take time to establish connections with his new team-mates as he highlighted Ekitike as an example.
“So far, I didn’t figure the connections out yet,” Salah bluntly admitted. “Like with Darwin or Lucho or the guys they used to play in front, or Diogo.
“I knew where to start with Diogo or Darwin. I know where to find them. I knew their game very well, but with Hugo, he’s still new. Sometimes I need the ball in the field. Sometimes we need it in the space.
“We try to figure that out, through the training sessions or like the videos. The manager shows us. So I will figure it out soon because also it’s going to help my game to grow as well.”
It is something Liverpool are continuing to work on behind the scenes at the training ground, at least. Ekitike has now revealed the lengths Salah is going to to help forge chemistry between the Reds’ new-look attack, help the Frenchman settle in and improve, which should also speed up the process.
“It’s really good,” he replied when asked by BBC Sport what it was like playing with Salah. “Mo is a really cool guy.
Hugo Ekitike has impressed with Liverpool, but needs to gel properly still with his new team-mates(Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)
“He is really open with me and is really good to talk too. He is great to play with. I was watching him on TV when he was scoring the goals and stuff but he is a really great athlete.
“You can just improve yourself and learn from him. It is good to share the pitch with him and I hope we are going to score lots of goals and bring some wins to the team together.
“He is very cool. More cool than what I have seen on TV because sometimes you see straight face and stuff so I thought he was cold… someone who doesn’t talk a lot.
“He is really open, like all of the guys here. They are really open and want me to adapt to the team.”
Liverpool have not been at their best so far this season, but they are well-aware of such a fact. Slot’s new-look side remains a work in progress. And the likes of Salah and Ekitike are putting in the extra work off the pitch to help the Reds gel as quickly as possible.