Mohamed Salah has set his own standards – Arne Slot

Liverpool manager Arne Slot has moved to shield Mohamed Salah from mounting criticism, insisting the forward’s recent struggles only underline the extraordinary standards he has established during his time at Anfield.

The Egyptian attacker is currently enduring the longest Premier League scoring drought of his Liverpool career, having failed to find the net in nine consecutive league matches.

His last domestic goal came against Aston Villa on November 1, a dry spell that has coincided with a noticeable dip in Liverpool’s attacking sharpness.

Questions have inevitably emerged over whether the 33-year-old can still maintain the elite output that defined his dominance in English football over recent seasons.

Slot, however, dismissed suggestions of decline while addressing the media ahead of Liverpool’s league meeting with West Ham United.

“He set his own standards and they are so, so, so high the moment he doesn’t score for a few games, people are surprised, so that is the big compliment

“Mo we are used to scoring goals. We also know, even in my time, it has happened, I’ve had questions about Mo not scoring for three or four games, but he always scores again.

“He is not our only attacker who doesn’t score as much as he was used to. It is not that the focus should be all on him, Hugo and Cody haven’t either, so it is a team thing. But we keep clean sheets, so they don’t need to score as many. We scored six versus Qarabag and four against Newcastle.” 

Victory over West Ham could significantly strengthen Liverpool’s position in a tightly contested race involving rivals such as Manchester United and Chelsea.