Mohamed Salah missing 10 Liverpool games could be blessing in disguise for Arne Slot

Liverpool could bewithout Mohamed Salah for 10 games this winter due to the winger's commitments at the Africa Cup of Nations. But his absence could play into the hands of Reds boss Arne Slot as the Dutchman attempts to get his side firing on all cylinders again.

Salah has been Liverpool's star player since arriving at the club from Roma in 2017. And he earned a bumper new contract last season after enjoying one of his best campaigns at Anfield. But his form has nosedived this term and he has failed to have his usual impact in the Premier League.

Salah has been an Africa Cup of Nations runner-up on two occasions, with Egypt suffering defeat against Cameroon in the 2017 final, before losing on penalties to Senegal in the showpiece match in 2021.

Egypt are one of the favourites to win the 2025 edition of the tournament, which gets underway in Morocco on Sunday, December 21. And they will be looking to Salah to fire them to glory.

The Pharaohs are holding a training camp and a warm-up friendly in the second week of December and have the right to call up Salah.

But, according to the Daily Mail, the player will sit down for crunch talks with his country's manager Hossam Hassan next week to avoid a club-vs-country row as he would prefer to stay with Liverpool that week.

If Salah joins Egypt early and goes on to lift the trophy with his national team, he won't return to Anfield until the showpiece match has been played on Sunday, January 18.

That means the player could be absent for 10 games across the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup.

Slot has been reluctant to drop Salah in the league this season, although the 33-year-old was named among the substitutes in two consecutive Champions League matches.

But without Salah in the building, Slot would have no choice but to turn to his other talented attackers. And the former Feyenoord boss could name Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike together in his front three, which could be a lethal combination.

Ekitike has been one of the Reds' most promising attacking players this season, while Isak has proven he can bag plenty of Premier League goals, despite his underwhelming start to life on Merseyside.

The switch up could put Liverpool back in the mix to fight for Premier League honours, depending on their results over the coming weeks, and could be the catalyst for the side to enter their next era centred around that key duo as well as fellow summer signing Florian Wirtz.

Ekitike and Isak are Liverpool's future. Slot may just need an excuse to make the pair the main men at Anfield earlier than he might have imagined.