‘If I speak’ – Mohamed Salah was held back by Liverpool teammates in previous benching at West Ham

Mohamed Salah may be feeling a sense of deja vu after being benched for a must-win game against West Ham.

The Liverpool talisman has been dropped for the first time in the Premier League by Arne Slot at the same site as the last time he was available but left out in the top-flight.

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Slot has already explained his decision at the London Stadium, insisting it’s merely rotation in a busy period for the Reds.

April 2024 was the last time Salah was benched for a Premier League game, which ironically shared several similarities with Sunday’s axing.

They both came amid a poor run of form individually and for Liverpool overall, ahead of a trip to West Ham at the London Stadium.

Salah was infamously involved in a spat with former manager Jurgen Klopp, four games prior to the end of the German’s tenure in charge.

Klopp had rang the changes after a 2-0 loss to Everton, which effectively ended the club’s hopes of winning the 2023/24 title.

It followed a defeat at home to Crystal Palace and European anguish, both of which Slot has since overseen this campaign as well.

Salah dropped at West Ham again

The Egyptian was last benched in the Premier League in April 2024, and was introduced as a substitute after a Hammers equaliser to make it 2-2 on 77 minutes.

He was then involved in a verbal sparring contest with Klopp, which Michail Antonio later claimed centred around Salah seemingly snubbing his gaffer’s attempt to give him a handshake.

Darwin Nunez, who had also been left out of the starting XI, had to intervene and pull his fellow forward away, and footage showed they blanked each other at the full-time whistle.

Klopp downplayed the incident after the game and said: “No [I can’t say what was said], but we spoke about it already in the dressing room. For me, it’s done.”

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‘If I speak there will be fire’ – Salah

However, when walking through the mixed zone, Salah told reporters: “If I speak, there will be fire.”

Slot had been revealed as the Reds’ replacement for Klopp on the eve of that game, but is now under pressure on the return to West Ham.

His side were humbled 4-1 by Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday, leaving the Reds 13th in the Champions League table.

That loss was their ninth in 12 games, Liverpool’s worst run since their relegation season of 1953/54, with the reigning Premier League champions 11th in the table.

Slot has now reacted by following the advice from ex-Liverpool star Dietmar Hamann, who argued that Salah needed to be dropped for the manager to avoid losing his job.

Slot explains Salah being benched

This is the first time under Slot that Salah is not starting a Premier League game for Liverpool.

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It’s the first time overall he hasn’t been named in the starting XI for the Reds since April 2024, also away against West Ham – ending his run of 53 successive league starts.

On that decision, Slot told Sky Sports: “We have more players on the bench than just Mo, but I understand why you ask the question.

“We’re playing four games in 10 days. I have many good players, so today I chose this line-up. Sometimes [Alexander] Isak has been on the bench, sometimes [Florian] Wirtz, so I understand why it’s about the players on the bench, but it’s also about those that start.

“It’s not an easy decision as I have many more than 11 good players – it’s not the first time I haven’t played Mo, just like I’ve decided not to play Isak, Wirtz and [Hugo] Etikite.”

Liverpool’s starting XI against West Ham today has scored a combined 152 Premier League goals in their careers – 38 fewer than Mo Salah (190), who is on the bench today.

Joe Gomez, who was a sub with Salah in April 2024, is making his first Premier League start on Sunday since December of last season – also away at West Ham, a game he was subbed off in the 37th minute of.