Salah has to prove his worth again at Liverpool after being dropped by Arne Slot

The warning signs were there for Mohamed Salah.

His form wasn’t great. Pundits were starting to get on his back. Fixtures were coming thick and fast for Liverpool. Plus, manager Arne Slot clearly needed to switch things up amid the team’s worst run of results in more than 70 years.

And so, Salah was dropped.

Indeed, he didn’t even come off the bench in the crisis-averting 2-0 win at West Ham in the Premier League on Sunday.

Cue hysteria, and maybe some over-reaction.

Questions about whether this was the beginning of the end for Salah at Liverpool might be premature.

The trip to West Ham came in the middle of a run of five matches in 15 days for Liverpool. Missing out on the middle one of those – against one of the worst teams in the league – was hardly big a deal, even if it was the first time in 19 months that Salah began as a substitute in a Premier League game.

“Mo has had an unbelievable career here at this club and will have a very good future at this club because he’s such a special player,” Slot said.

“Four games in 10 days, with only 14 to 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.”

Expect Salah to be back in the team when Liverpool hosts Sunderland on Wednesday in a rare midweek round of matches in England’s top flight.

However, it does put some pressure on the 33-year-old Egyptian to start delivering, given he has just four goals so far in league play.

And it won’t be long before he heads to the Africa Cup of Nations. That might be more of an acid test for Slot: If, in Salah’s absence, Liverpool stumbles on a formula that improves results, what does the Dutch coach do then?

There’s no doubt Liverpool is already looking to the future with the signings of Florian Wirtz (22), Hugo Ekitike (23) and Alexander Isak (26). And in Isak, who scored the opener against West Ham, Slot now has an out-and-out striker who should eventually ease the burden on Salah.

But Salah is a club great who has supreme fitness and drive, and spearheaded Liverpool’s charge to the league title last season.

Don’t be surprised if he becomes Liverpool’s go-to attacker once again when Liverpool gets through this tough spell, which saw it lose eight of its previous 11 matches heading into the West Ham game.

“He has been so important for this club,” Slot said, “and will be important for this club in the future.”

Arsenal has drawn back-to-back away games in the league but still has a five-point lead heading into a home match against Brentford.

Second-place Manchester City visits Fulham, while Chelsea – a point further back – is at Leeds.

Viktor Gyokeres made his return for Arsenal after four weeks out in the 1-1 draw at Chelsea on Sunday and will be pushing for a start up front. Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has plenty of options in attack now, though, with Mikel Merino having filled in effectively during Gyokeres’ recent absence and Gabriel Jesus also fit again after nearly a year out because of ACL damage.

Erling Haaland hasn’t scored in any of his last three games ahead of Man City’s trip to Fulham, and suddenly has an unlikely challenger for the Golden Boot award.

That is Igor Thiago, Brentford’s Brazilian striker who has nine goals in his last eight league games and is on 11 for the season – three behind Haaland.

Chelsea will be without midfield enforcer Moises Caicedo for its match at Leeds as he starts a suspension following his straight red card against Arsenal. With Romeo Lavia also currently sidelined, Reece James may have to continue in an unfamiliar role at the base of the midfield.

Crystal Palace midfielder Ismaila Sarr went off injured early in the 2-1 loss at Manchester United and manager Oliver Glasner said the Senegal international might only return after the African Cup. Crystal Palace is at Burnley on Wednesday.

Pressure is building on Tottenham manager Thomas Frank after three straight losses over the past week, including a big one in the derby against Arsenal and most recently at home to Fulham. Discontent has been heard among supporters, some of whom were targeted by Frank after the Fulham game for jeering goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario for some mistakes.

“They can’t be true Tottenham fans because everyone supports each other when you are on the pitch,” Frank said.

It doesn’t get any easier for Spurs because next up is a long trip to Newcastle for a match on Tuesday. Tottenham has already lost at St. James’ Park in the English League Cup this season and has been thrashed 4-0 and 6-1 in two of their last three league meetings there.