Daniel Sturridge may have explained why Mohamed Salah just ‘hasn’t seemed right’ this season

Mohamed Salah looked nowhere near his usual best as Liverpool lost successive matches following the 1-0 defeat against Galatasaray.

The Reds were outworked by the Super Lig champions throughout the entirety of the clash at RAMS Park, with Victor Osimhen’s 16th-minute penalty proving the decisive goal.

Arne Slot experimented with his starting line-up in Istanbul, and his selection decisions backfired significantly, with summer signing Jeremie Frimpong struggling to impress alongside others.

Even Liverpool supporters were concerned about Ryan Gravenberch on Tuesday; the Dutchman has been one of the side’s most consistent performers this season, but he was also culpable for the loss.

Salah emerged from the bench midway through the second half and couldn’t make an impact on proceedings, and now ex-Red Daniel Sturridge believes he knows why.

Mohamed Salah needs to build chemistry with his new teammates

When speaking live on Amazon Prime’s match coverage, Sturridge claimed the lack of team chemistry at Anfield is affecting Salah’s performances.

“They’re not the same team they were last year. You can tell the chemistry isn’t there right now.”

Chris Sutton echoed Strurridge’s opinion on the FPL podcast, when discussing the Egyptian’s stats thus far: “Don’t patronise me. I know nothing.

“Okay, let’s accept that. All I would say, okay, you’ve accepted that. You accepted that really quickly. But this season, Salah hasn’t seemed right to me… All I’m saying is, Liverpool have been lucky with late goals and what have you.”

Although he has recorded three goals and three assists in his opening eight appearances, Salah’s form has been dubbed “terrible” at the start of the season.

Indeed, he has not looked as convincing as the player who claimed both the golden boot and playmaker awards in the Premier League, with Slot suggesting Salah was at fault for Palace’s goal that ended their perfect record.

At this stage last year, Salah had 12 goals and three assists to his name across all competitions and was head and shoulders above every other forward in English football.

While Salah is expected to overturn his fortunes, his decline is coinciding with the team’s underwhelming displays, and it appears that Slot’s biggest problem at Anfield is how to get his Egyptian talisman back to his best form.

Arne Slot needs to play into Mohamed Salah’s strengths

The wins have papered over the cracks on Merseyside, but now, with consecutive defeats in their last two outings, the frailties have been exposed.

Slot is struggling to find the best solution to fit his summer signings into the same starting line-up while finding the perfect balance in his side.

However, it is clear that the Reds have become far too attack-minded, and their defensive vulnerability has reached a point of concern that must be urgently addressed before the trip to Chelsea on Saturday.

The Liverpool boss needs Salah to be firing on all cylinders if he is to compete on all fronts this season. He simply must revert to what made his side so successful last year and lean into the Egyptian’s strengths – the rest of the pieces will then soon fall into place.

Click here to read article