Arne Slot has explained the decision to drop Mohamed Salah for Liverpool’s Champions League quarter-final first leg against Paris Saint-Germain.
The Liverpool head coach has made two changes to the side which started the 4-0 FA Cup quarter-final loss to Manchester City as Salah and Curtis Jones make way for Jeremie Frimpong and Alexis Mac Allister.
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Salah, who was forced off against Galatasaray in Liverpool’s last match in Europe, and will have make an impact off the bench at the Parc des Princes after losing his place in the side.
Speaking to TNT Sports before kick-off, Slot explained that the Egypt international is just being rested and he highlighted Liverpool’s much improved strength in depth.
“It is always difficult to leave players out that work very hard and they deserve to start, Mo is definitely one of them but there are more players on the bench that work very hard to play,” the Dutchman said.
“Add to that how much Mo has done for the club, how influential he’s been for me, for the club, that makes it difficult but I think it’s also quite common and not many times this season I had to make choices like that.
“We have players on the bench now who can impact the game, we are in a much better place than we have been throughout the whole season.”
In opting to leave out Salah, Slot has changed his system in hope of greater defensive solidity after seeing his side concede four goals at the Etihad Stadium.
Joe Gomez, Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate all start in Paris in what appears to be a back five, with Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez operating out wide
“We play a team that is changing constantly in their positions so I thought let’s make a line up that people may argue what our plan is,” Slot explained.
“You will see what the idea behind it is, but it’s obvious we can play in different ways with the players we have on the pitch today.”
