Arne Slot unsure whether Mohamed Salah has played his last game for Liverpool
By Carl Markham, Press Association
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot does not know whether Mohamed Salah has played his last game for the club after he was forced off with an injury in the 3-1 win over Crystal Palace.
The Egypt international, who is set to leave in the summer after nine storied years at the club, walked off holding his hamstring just before the hour.
The 33-year-old’s chances of returning to the pitch are in doubt, with just four matches remaining, including the final game of the season at home to Brentford when Salah and Andy Robertson are set to say their farewells,.
“We don’t know, that is the best answer I can give,” said Slot.
“If I say there might be a chance, that is probably all the headlines – that there might be a chance – so we simply don’t know. But what we do know is that the season in four weeks is over.
“Not a lot of games are being played so we have to wait and see how his injury is, if he can return to play.
“What I do know about Mo is he has taken good care of his body all these years that he will have the minimum time required to recover from an injury and let’s hope for the best, that he is available.”
Salah was a significant contributor to a third successive Premier League victory which moved Liverpool up to fourth, eight points clear of sixth-placed Brighton.
Goals for British record signing Alexander Isak, his first since fracturing a tibia in December, and Florian Wirtz were positives for Liverpool, either side of what could be a final strike for the club from Robertson.
Palace’s goal was controversial as Daniel Munoz lobbed the ball into an empty net with Liverpool’s third-choice goalkeeper Freddie Woodman lying injured.
“The amount of times players were pretending they were injured and referees buy into this. It is becoming a tactic in football,” Slot added.
“This happened to us versus Manchester United when Alexis Mac Allister was down with an injury, play on and five stitches. You can probably hear my frustration.
“The amount of times games have been stopped because players have pretended to be injured, then there is a goalkeeper on the floor and the referee doesn’t stop the game. I think he should have stopped the game.”
Palace boss Oliver Glasner defended Munoz, who was booed, had a ball thrown at him from the crowd and endured chants of “cheat”, and said had Woodman been seriously injured they would have handed a goal back to Liverpool.
“The ball goes to Daniel Munoz and the keeper raises his arm. He didn’t really see it or it is the same time,” he said.
“The referee has to stop the game if he believes it is a serious injury but you see the keeper ends the game.
“To demand the referee has to stop the game can be very dangerous for the future. It was not so clear but I think it was the right decision in the end.”
Glasner added: “We discussed with the fourth official, with Arne Slot and (Virgil) van Dijk (what to do). We had watched it back.
“The keeper gets up. If he doesn’t and he has to be subbed then they could have definitely scored in our goal because then it would have been a serious injury.”
