LONDON — All eyes are on Mohamed Salah’s uncertain future at Liverpool as Arne Slot tries to shut out the noise and prepare his men to face Brighton on Saturday.
The Egyptian superstar has hinted Saturday’s match at Anfield could be his last for the Premier League champions, taking aim at manager Slot and the club hierarchy in an explosive interview.
Nicknamed “The Egyptian King,” Liverpool’s third-highest scorer, with 250 goals in 420 appearances, has endured a turbulent campaign following an extraordinary 2024-25 season.
Leaders Arsenal will host winless Wolves, who has lost their past eight games and is already 13 points from safety.
Manchester City, now just two points behind the Gunners, will face a tricky trip to London to clash with Oliver Glasner’s in-form Crystal Palace.
AFP Sport looks at three talking points ahead of the action.
Salah in the spotlight
It is difficult to see a way back for Mohamed Salah at Anfield unless he apologises to Arne Slot and the club.
The forward accused Liverpool of throwing him “under the bus” and said he had no relationship with the Dutch manager after he was left on the bench for last week’s 3-3 draw at Leeds – the third match in a row that he did not start.
The 33-year-old did not travel for Tuesday’s Champions League match at Inter Milan, which Liverpool won 1-0, posting a picture of himself alone in a gym on social media.
Salah, who is preparing to join the Egypt squad for the Africa Cup of Nations, has invited his family to the Brighton game.
“I will be in Anfield to say goodbye to the fans and go the Africa Cup,” he told reporters. “I don’t know what is going to happen when I am there.”
But as things stand Salah, who has been linked with a move to the Saudi Pro League, may not get the chance to say his farewells.
It is impossible to predict how the saga will end but there is a chance that the man who is third in Liverpool’s all-time list of goalscorers will never wear the shirt again.
Arsenal hosts wolves
Arsenal’s match against Wolves at the Emirates appears to be a nailed-on home win for the Premier League leaders, who last week suffered their first defeat since August.
Wolves, with just two points from their opening 15 games, is on track for the worst season in Premier League history.
That unwanted title is held by Derby, who ended the 2007/08 campaign with just 11 points.
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal slipped up against Aston Villa last week and Manchester City took full advantage.
But the Gunners bounced back in the Champions League in midweek, beating Club Brugge 3-0 to make it six wins out of six in Europe.
Arteta’s team has been without both of their first-choice centre-backs, Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba, for their past four games in all competitions but they will likely have too much for Wolves.
Crystal Palace has reached 26 points after 15 Premier League matches – their best start to a top-flight campaign and double the tally they had at this stage of last season.
The highlight of 2025 for Oliver Glasner’s team was beating City in the FA Cup final in May, which ensured qualification for Europe.
Now Palace, who has already beaten Liverpool at home this season, is in the top four as they aim even higher.
City has gone under the radar this season but are emerging as the main challengers to Arsenal, seeking their fifth successive win in all competitions.
Pep Guardiola’s men can take heart from the fact that they have not been beaten at Selhurst Park since 2015.
But they face a tough task against Palace, who have the tightest defence in the league apart from Arsenal, with just 12 goals conceded.
