09/12/2025

SPORTS TUESDAY | DEC 9, 2025

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What next for Salah after explosive outburst? MOHAMED SALAH plunged his future at Liverpool into serious doubt after claiming he had been made the fall guy for the Premier League champions’ disastrous form this season. In an explosive outburst, Salah spoke to reporters after being left on the bench for Sunday’s 3-3 draw at Leeds, dropping a bombshell accusation that his relationship with Reds manager Arne Slot is broken. It was the third consecutive game the Egyptian had been axed by Slot, who is struggling for solutions to a run of four wins in 15 games in all competitions for Liverpool. Here’s a look at how the breakdown between the Egypt star and his manager developed and what comes next for both Salah and Liverpool: Why was Salah dropped? An undoubted Liverpool legend, only two players have scored more than Salah’s 250 goals for the 20-time English champions. Salah, who arrived at Anfield from Roma in 2017, was fundamental to two Premier League title triumphs, ending a 30-year wait to become champions in 2020, and winning the Champions League in 2019. In April, as he played a starring role and led Liverpool to the title in Slot’s debut year last season, Salah was rewarded with a lucrative new two-year contract. Salah has struggled to match those heights this season, scoring just five times in 19 appearances. The 33-year-old, who was dropped for Champions League fixtures against Galatasaray and Eintracht Frankfurt, started all of Liverpool’s first 12 league games, but Slot’s patience ran out after a 3-0 home defeat to Nottingham Forest. Liverpool spent £300 million (RM1.7b) on forwards Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike and Alexander Isak in the transfer window. Despite slow starts for Wirtz and Isak, they appear the future for the Reds and Slot has prioritised trying to get them up to speed over the past week. What happens next? Liverpool were already planning for life without Salah in the short-term as he departs for the Africa Cup of Nations after this week’s matches away to Inter Milan in the Champions League and at home to Brighton. Salah hinted the Brighton game could be his last at Anfield, if selected, and that he had instructed his family to fly in to witness it. Where could he go? A move to the Saudi Pro League has long been rumoured as Salah’s next destination. An icon in the Arab world, his signing would represent another coup for the Gulf state. The riches of clubs backed by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund means they are one of the few options that can match or even improve Salah’s current salary as one of the Premier League’s highest-paid players. Liverpool would also welcome the chance to bank a significant transfer fee after their huge summer outlay. What does it mean for Slot? Slot’s credit among the Liverpool support for an amazing first season in charge was already diminishing after a run of just two wins in 10 League games. His job is not in immediate danger, but the Liverpool hierarchy may be forced to act later in the season if their place in next season’s Champions League is at risk. Despite a dreadful start, Liverpool, who sit eighth in the table, are only two points outside the top four. Salah has now ramped up even more pressure on Slot as many fans will take the side of the player hailed on the Kop as the “Egyptian King.” – AFP

Owen blasts Mo for going public with Liverpool gripes MICHAEL OWEN has blasted Mohamed Salah for choosing to take his gripes with the Liverpool hierarchy public in an explosive interview on Sunday. top goalscorer leave the club on sour terms. Surely you bite your lip, enjoy representing your country and see how the land lies when you get back?”

legend turned pundit Jamie Carragher, with whom he has long had a love-hate relationship. Carragher has been one to criticise Salah in the recent past and after this explosive interview, the Egyptian can already see the retort that’s coming. “After what I have done for the club it really hurts,” he said. “You can imagine, really. “After going from home to the club and you don’t know if you are starting. I know the club too well, I have been here many years. Tomorrow Carragher is going to go for me again and again and that’s fine.” – The Independent

Owen experienced such an imperfect departure when he swapped boyhood club Liverpool for Real Madrid in 2004 – and while he previously came to the aid of the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold when he made the same move to the ire of Reds fans, Owen cannot defend the actions of Salah. “Oh Mo Salah,” he wrote on X . “I can imagine how you feel. You’ve carried this team for a long time and won everything there is to win. But this is a team game and you simply can’t publicly say what you’ve said. “You’re going to Afcon in a week.

Salah, who signed a lucrative two-year contract in April, felt Liverpool turned on him while saying he was not sure why he had been dropped in what he called an unacceptable situation for him. “It seems like the club has thrown me under the bus,” said the Egyptian at Elland Road. “That is how I am feeling. I think it is very clear that someone wanted me to get all of the blame.” As well as lambasting the club’s hierarchy, Salah namedropped Reds

Salah went to the media after being benched for a third consecutive outing in Liverpool’s 3 3 draw at Leeds on Sunday, claiming to have been thrown “under the bus” by the club and that he doesn’t have a relationship with manager Arne Slot anymore. The Egyptian has opened the door to an imminent Anfield exit when he returns from the Africa Cup of Nations in January, which would see Liverpool’s third all-time

Eagles fly high Glasner not getting carried away with Palace’s lofty position C RYSTAL PALACE manager Oliver Glasner played down his side’s posi tion in the table after their 2-1 victory at Fulham lifted them to fourth in the snatching victory for the Eagles by flashing in a header from Yeremy Pino’s corner. Fulham boss Marco Silva said: “We scored a goal and the way it was disallowed has to be a huge frustration because probably the toenail of (Samuel) Chukwueze is too big right now. “We kept the control of the game, but not with the intensity or the energy from the last game (against Manchester City) to create from one side to the other. “One of the reasons, I believe, was because from the back we should have started to move the ball quicker and make the ball arrive in offensive areas quicker.

Premier League. Luck was on the Eagles’ side when the Cottagers had an Emile Smith Rowe goal disallowed by VAR for a marginal offside in the build-up early in the second half before Marc Guehi snatched the win with an 87th-minute header. A trip to Shelbourne in the Conference League is next in Palace’s packed schedule, but they are threatening to put themselves in the picture for playing Champions League football next season. Glasner said: “I’ll have to ask if we get a bonus if we are fourth in December – I don’t think so. “Of course it’s nice, but for me what I’m thinking of is we’re always talking in the last games it felt we were getting a bit fatigued at the end of the game due to our schedule, and today I felt it was the opposite. “All the players who came in and brought great energy to the pitch and, for me, man of the match was Nathaniel Clyne. He didn’t play for months. “I didn’t give him minutes but at every single training session he’s available, he does his job 100%. “I said to the players that’s who we want to be, that’s who we are, always being ready to support the team. “That’s what I’m thinking about and for me fourth place in the league is not that important.” Palace opened the scoring through Eddie Nketiah after he was played in by Adam Wharton, but Fulham levelled through Harry Wilson’s magnificent finish from the edge of the area. A tight second half was settled by Guehi

“He has to be careful with that because sometimes a nail today in football is enough to disallow a goal. It was difficult for us because it was a great goal from ourselves and it was disallowed.

“It’s these type of games that if you can’t win, you cannot lose it in the way we lost – these are the moments we have to be resilient.” – The Independent

Fulham’s Raul Jimenez (left) challenges Crystal Palace’s Yeremy Pino in yesterday’s Premier League match at Craven Cottage. – REUTERSPIC

Hammers boss Nuno takes aim at VAR

Ű BY ANDY SIMS

“It’s not ‘appears’, it’s clear,” said Nuno. “I saw it, everybody saw it. We cannot understand how they gave the goal. VAR saw it, everybody saw it. I think both situations should be checked. “It’s hard to take, man, it’s really hard to take especially after the hard work of the boys, the support of our fans that make us feel like we were in London. “Then comes one situation, so many people see it, it’s hard to take. We trust, we trust this is the best League in the world. “There’s not much to say, I want to apologise. It’s hard to speak when you have a group of players so disappointed. We are in a tough position. “This game meant a lot to us.

The boys worked really hard. It’s hard to take to go back to London with a point.” The Premier League confirmed that VAR “deemed Rutter’s arm was in a natural position and he did not deliberately handle the ball, and the contact with the arm was not immediately prior to him scoring”. The high boot, meanwhile, was not regarded as dangerous play by the officials. “If Dinos (Mavropanos) was stood on the ground, maybe,” added Nuno. “But there’s contact on his head, isn’t there?” Bowen fired West Ham into a 73rd-minute lead with an incredible goal which was essentially a tackle. He slid the ball away from

Seagulls defender Ferdi Kadioglu, guiding it across goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen and into the net all in one motion. It was a goal which so nearly secured the win which would have lifted West Ham out of the relegation zone, on goals scored, before Rutter’s controversial late leveller. “Disappointing result for us,” said boss Fabian Hurzeler. “We wanted more, we didn’t deserve more, especially after the first half. We didn’t have energy, no intensity, no joy, no connection. “We started playing football when we conceded the goal, the reaction was good, but overall – especially the first half – we can’t be happy.” – The Independent

FRUSTRATED West Ham boss Nuno Espirito Santo felt his side were denied a crucial Premier League victory at Brighton by a VAR mistake on two counts. Georginio Rutter struck in stoppage-time to snatch a 1-1 draw for the Seagulls after Jarrod Bowen had put West Ham into the lead. After referee Simon Hooper gave the goal, VAR Tony Harrington checked for a handball by Rutter in the build-up. There also appeared to be a clear high boot to the head of Konstatinos Mavropanos as he jumped to clear the ball, by Brighton’s Charalampos Kostoulas.