Liverpool XI vs. Fulham—Salah Decision to Make: Injury News, Predicted Lineup

Arne Slot has a formation change to consider after a tough night against Paris Saint-Germain.

Mohamed Salah was surprisingly left on the bench against PSG. | Ibrahim Ezzat/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Liverpool return to Premier League action on Saturday afternoon with a visit from Fulham following a chastening Champions League night against Paris Saint-Germain in midweek.

Arne Slot reshuffled his pack for the daunting trip to the reigning champions of Europe in the desperate hope of avoiding a humiliating result. While he achieved that with a 2–0 defeat, the nature of the contest was pretty embarrassing. Mohamed Salah missed out on the nut-and-bolt dismantling as an unused substitute.

The team’s perennial top scorer has seen his status called into question under Slot on multiple occasions this season, so much so that he has decided to give up a year of his eye-watering salary to leave in the summer. The remainder of Salah’s campaign won’t be spent entirely on the bench and Slot heavily hinted that his waning star will be back for Saturday’s clash with Fulham.

Whether he will be trusted in the second leg against PSG next week is another matter entirely.

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Survival Mode Not Set to Continue

Arne Slot became the villain on Wednesday evening. | Stuart Franklin-UEFA/UEFA/Getty Images

Slot defended his decision to become the reactive shell he has spent the entire season complaining about by warning that Liverpool are in “survival mode.” Up against teams with the attacking firepower of PSG and Manchester City, some caution is perhaps understandable.

Fulham present a different challenge. Marco Silva’s well-drilled outfit can (and often do) cause the division’s best teams plenty of problems, yet they are not one of the continent’s foremost attacking threats. In fact, even this relegation-battling iteration of Tottenham Hotspur have registered more shots on target than the Cottagers this season.

Liverpool should return to a back four on Saturday and could even have Alexander Isak to call upon for more than 10 minutes after a tentative cameo on Wednesday.

• ⚠️ Key absentees, doubts: Alisson, Conor Bradley, Wataru Endo, Giovanni Leoni.
• 🔢 Predicted formation: 4-2-2-2

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Liverpool Predicted Lineup vs. Fulham (4-2-2-2)

Arne Slot could change formation again. | FotMob

GK: Giorgi Mamardashvili—One of the few Liverpool players to emerge from the Parc des Princes with any credit, Mamardashvili kept the score down with four saves.

RB: Jeremie Frimpong—The back five should have suited Frimpong more than any other Liverpool player yet the natural wingback ended the game without taking a shot or creating a single chance.

CB: Ibrahima Konaté—The towering center back was fortunate to avoid giving away two penalties

CB: Virgil van Dijk—“It’s difficult for Virgil to look s---,” Jürgen Klopp once said. It would be interesting to see if Slot agrees with this sentiment.

LB: Andy Robertson—Robertson is not a fan of writing off a player’s circuitous route to stardom as a “fairytale.” Each journey is underpinned by hard work and there are no shortage of examples in Liverpool’s squad. As Robertson said: “If these were all fairytales, we’d have more than Hans Christian Andersen.”

DM: Ryan Gravenberch—When Ronald Koeman called Gravenberch up to the Netherlands squad for Euro 2024 after a raft of injuries in midfield, the typically blunt Dutch coach claimed that the Liverpool man had “landed with his nose in the butter,” a wonderful expression for good fortune. Gravenberch would have to slip in the butter and pull something to miss out on a starting spot for club or country.

DM: Curtis Jones—The only Scouser left in Liverpool’s team could be denied a summer transfer to ensure that status is preserved.

AM: Dominik Szoboszlai—“He is a bit underestimated,” Slot said of the Hungarian midfielder during his debut campaign on Merseyside. Few would underestimate the impact of Liverpool’s undisputed star.

AM: Florian Wirtz—When Wirtz was a kid, his teacher asked him to write down what he wanted to be when he grew up. The German’s mother kept that scrap of paper and unfurled it on his 18th birthday. There was one word on it: “Fußballer.”

ST: Mohamed Salah—If Salah isn’t too enamored by an approach from MLS or the Saudi Pro League this summer, perhaps he could pivot towards free diving. After Klopp invited a professional surfer to deliver a session with his squad in 2019, Salah could hold his breath under water for more than three minutes.

ST: Hugo Ekitiké—The Frenchman is a fine finisher but may need some work on his ambitions as a career counselor: “If I have one advice to give,” Ekitiké revealed earlier this season, “it’s like when you think it’s crazy to do something, do it.”

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