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Will Mohamed Salah’s return from AFCON destabilise Liverpool again?

The Africa Cup of Nations came at the right time for Mohamed Salah, and for Liverpool. The Egyptian has had some time to cool off after the inflammatory comments made before leaving for the tournament in mid-December, giving Arne Slot and the decision-makers at Anfield one less thing to worry about over the last month.

Now, though, Salah is set to join his club teammates again and there are questions over how he will be reintegrated into a team that has remained unbeaten since his last appearance. Could the 33-year-old’s return destabilise Liverpool at a time when they need results to stay in the top five?

While Liverpool are currently on an unbeaten run of 12 games in all competitions, they have drawn no fewer than half of those matches. The Reds’ Premier League title defence is all but over with Slot’s team closer to the bottom half than Arsenal at the top of the table. This season has been a disappointment.

And yet there have been some signs of recovery. Saturday’s home draw against Burnley was the perfect encapsulation of where Liverpool are as a team right now because there was plenty about the performance to be positive about. It was only due to their defensive fragility that Liverpool failed to claim all three points.

Florian Wirtz has grown in Salah’s absence. The German playmaker is operating with more conviction and has given Liverpool a different dimension in the final third with his dribbling ability and knack for finding space in between the lines. Wirtz was arguably Liverpool’s best player against Burnley, and not just because he scored their only goal.

Hugo Ekitike has continued to catch the eye, producing a wonderful run for Wirtz’s goal on Saturday. The French forward has been deployed through the middle on paper, but has the freedom to drift over to the left side where he can dovetail with Cody Gakpo and Milos Kerkez from full back.

Earlier in the season, Dominik Szoboszlai was played at right back partly because it was difficult to find a place elsewhere in the team for the Hungarian such was the variety of Liverpool’s attacking midfield options. With Salah at AFCON, though, Szoboszlai has been used in a more conventional central role.

Results might not have been as positive as Slot might have hoped, but Liverpool have found a certain consistency in terms of their team selection and general approach. This is why Salah is far from guaranteed to be integrated immediately back into the side. Liverpool might have moved on without him.

“I am happy that he comes back,” Slot insisted when asked how he would greet Salah after returning from international duty at AFCON where Egypt made a run to the semi-finals. “Mo has been so important for this club, for me, so I am happy that he is back. Even if I had 15 attackers I still would have been happy if he came back but that is not our current situation.”

It’s unclear if Salah will travel with the Liverpool squad for Wednesday’s Champions League match against Marseille. It might not be until the weekend and the clash with Bournemouth that the Egyptian is firmly back in the fold. Slot may have an excuse to ease Salah into the team again.

Speculation around Salah’s future at Anfield will continue to swirl. There remains strong interest in the 33-year-old from the Saudi Pro League and it’s doubtful Liverpool are getting enough bang for their buck to justify Salah being their highest-paid player. Before a parting of ways happens, though, Liverpool need Salah to contribute.