Mohamed Salah’s Struggles Under Arne Slot Highlighted by Shocking Statistic

The Egyptian went unused on the bench for Liverpool’s 2–0 defeat to PSG.

Mohamed Salah will leave Liverpool this summer. | Ibrahim Ezzat/NurPhoto/Getty Images

For the third time under Arne Slot, Mohamed Salah spent a full 90 minutes sat on the bench in Wednesday’s 2–0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain.

The sight of Liverpool’s talisman, one of the greatest players in Premier League history, going unused on the sidelines in such a big game was an obvious surprise. Slot may have argued he was simply preserving Salah’s energy, but that has done little to quell the suspicions of tensions behind the scenes.

Indeed, it was a spell out of the starting lineup earlier this season that first ignited speculation over Salah’s future. After being benched for three straight games, two of which did not end in a cameo appearance, Salah went public with a vicious attack on Slot from which neither man has recovered.

It represents a dramatic fall from grace for Salah who, in his defense, is not used to being kept out of the fray. Under former boss Jürgen Klopp, he only ever spent three games as an unused substitute—a tally he has already matched under Slot.

Salah Statistics (All Comps)	Jürgen Klopp	Arne Slot
Appearances	349	87
Starts	317	80
Substitute	32	7
Unused Substitute	3	3

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How Salah’s Treatment Under Klopp Compares to Slot

Salah was a near-permanent fixture under Jürgen Klopp. | Visionhaus/Getty Images

The only three times Salah went unused on the bench under Klopp all came in the 2019–20 season. During a campaign disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Salah still racked up 23 goals and 13 assists across all competitions as Liverpool finally got their hands on the Premier League title.

While he had previously come off the bench, the first time Salah was an unused substitute came in November 2019 during a trip to Crystal Palace. This was purely related to fitness as Salah had missed international duty the week prior with an ankle injury. “Yesterday was the first session where everything was fine, but it was a bit late then, to be honest,” Klopp said of his decision.

Just a few weeks later, Salah was again left on the bench for a Merseyside derby against Everton as Klopp produced a surprisingly weakened squad. “We think the game will be really intense and for this you need kind of fresh legs and we try to bring them in,” he explained before a 5–2 victory inspired by fringe stars like Divock Origi, Xherdan Shaqiri and Adam Lallana.

Coincidentally, Salah’s final benching also came against Everton in June 2020. Once again, injury was to blame as Klopp argued “the right thing to do” was to protect his unfit superstar.

From 2017–24, those were the only three times Salah was an unused substitute. Two were directly related to injuries and the third came as a wider plan to rotate Klopp’s squad. It was abundantly clear that if Salah was healthy enough to play under Klopp, he would.

In the recent aftermath of Salah’s exit confirmation, Klopp confessed he did not always see eye-to-eye with the winger, whose attitude would cause problems if things weren’t going his way on the pitch. Thankfully for Klopp, the Egyptian rarely endured such slumps across their 349 appearances together.

Suggestions of issues between Salah and Arne Slot (right) has marred the season. | Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA/Getty Images

The same cannot be said for Salah’s time under Slot.

Despite having only made 87 appearances under the new boss, Salah has already hit three games unused on the sidelines.

When Slot first sent Salah to the bench against West Ham United in November 2025, he also insisted the decision was fitness-related. “Four games in 10 days with only 14, 15 outfield players available for us, then you have to decide once in a while to make a certain lineup and you try to pick the best lineup for every single game.”

The difference was, however, that few fans believed him. Salah had underwhelmed across a start to the season that brought a run of six defeats from seven games and Slot made the bold, perhaps admirable, decision to look in a different direction. It was the first time that Salah did not play under the new boss.

Slot changed the narrative when he kept Salah on the bench for the game that followed against Sunderland, pointing to the “balance” of his squad before bringing the Egyptian off the bench for the second half. When Liverpool visited Elland Road to face Leeds United a week later, the sight of Salah on the bench once again sent the speculation into overdrive.

“It’s never an easy decision because we all know what a great player he is,” Slot acknowledged. “But it is also up to me to pick the team that I think we need today. That’s why I made the decision.”

That was one snub too many for Salah, whose shocking rant after the final whistle kick-started a chain of events which prompted his eventual departure this summer. Slot insisted he has no issues being viewed as the “bad guy” responsible for Salah’s exit.

A third spell on the bench against PSG saw Slot acknowledge the limited defensive output that had inspired Salah’s demotion earlier in the season. “We are in survival mode,” the boss confessed, admitting forcing the 33-year-old to defend his own penalty area would have not benefited anybody.

Assuming Liverpool do not upset the odds against PSG, Salah has just eight games remaining as a Red. He will hope to spend those eight games on the pitch, but under Slot, that is far from guaranteed.

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