Slot Confirms Konaté Out vs Marseille for 'Family Reasons'; Salah Returns

Arne Slot met with the French media ahead of their Champions League match with Marseille. He revealed his plans for Mohamed Salah in the match, as well as some breaking news about Ibrahima Konate and the respect he has for the Marseille manager.

Team News

Arne Slot revealed that Ibrahima Konate did not make the trip to France due to “family reasons” and will not play in the match. See injury list for a complete list of unavailable players. He did not elaborate, but Konate’s absence creates a challenge for Slot as far as lineups go. The most logical choice would be to put the experienced Joe Gomez in that spot, or he could go with Waturu Endō, who would be fresh, but the Reds would lose some much-needed size in the back.

The Return Of The King

Mohamed Salah is back from AFCON, and Slot is certainly happy to have him.

“With Mo, I'm really happy and pleased that he's back,” Slot said. “In his absence, I think we've done quite OK in terms of hardly conceding any chance. We start to create more and more, and if you start to create more and more, it's really helpful to have a player like Mo Salah.

Because if there's ever been a player - I think there was one who scored more for this club - that can score goals, and I can still play, I don't think I can play Ian Rush still, then it's really helpful to have him back. We would never know, but the amount of chances, the amount of ball possession against Burnley, with Mo on the pitch, it would usually mean that we would have scored more. That's why I'm really happy that he's back, because creating chances is nice, but we are only judged on results, and that wasn't nice. So, hopefully we can combine two things. Create the same chances, able to score more, and keep not conceding chances on the other end."

Not An Easy Task

Liverpool need two straight wins to guarantee a spot in the top eight on the Champions League table and avoid a playoff for the round of 16. That’s going to be a tough ask, considering the Marseille coach is former Brighton boss Roberto de Zerbi.

"I regard him as one of the best in the world,” Slot said. “It should not always be judged on the trophies you win, but your style of play. Marseille is a big club at the moment and its history, I am not the one hiring coaches,s but if I was, De Zerbi would be high on the list if I worked at a big club."

LFC Globe Verdict

This will not be an easy win for Liverpool. Konate is out, which will hurt the Reds in defending set pieces, an area in which they already struggle. Obviously, De Zerbi is a good coach who can take advantage of any weakness. The question is, how much will Salah play? Liverpool lead the EPL in shots, but have struggled in converting those chances into goals. If there is anyone who can finish off chances, however, it is Mo Salah.

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