‘I am not weak’ says Slot, but Salah could return

Salah said in his interview it was “very clear that someone wants me to get all the blame”, but Slot says he does not know if that comment was aimed at him and gave his reasons for leaving Salah out for the past three games.

“It is hard for me to know who he was talking about,” Slot said.

“That is not the way I feel. He has the right to feel the way he does, but he does not have the right to share it with the media.

“He was very respectful and has trained really hard before the weekend – to that extent it was a surprise to me the comments he gave.

“Yes, we were [on speaking terms] but it doesn’t mean we were always agreeing on things.

“But it is not the first or the last time that a player who is not playing has said something similar to that.

“We as a team have struggled this season. I have tried to come up with solutions – that is my job. We tried many things and we looked very vulnerable against Nottingham Forest and PSV so I decided to play with an extra midfielder.”

Sources told BBC Sport the decision to leave Salah at home was taken with the full support of Slot, and that it is in the best interest of all parties involved for the player to have a brief period away from selection given the nature and timing of his public comments.

It is understood there will be no formal disciplinary action taken by the club.

Egypt forward Salah departs for the Africa Cup of Nations next Monday and also looks likely to also miss Liverpool’s Premier League home game against Brighton on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

Salah has scored 250 goals for Liverpool since signing from Roma in 2017, but has just five in 19 games this season.