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Daniel Sturridge reckons\u00a0Arne Slot\u00a0should field all three of his major summer acquisitions together for the first time in the Premier League when Liverpool face Leeds United on Saturday. The former Reds striker has also revealed the anguish he feels watching his old team-mate\u00a0Mohamed Salah\u00a0relegated to the bench.<\/p>\n
Salah found himself amongst the substitutes for the second consecutive match on Wednesday\u00a0when Liverpool hosted Sunderland.\u00a0Following a disappointing first-half display, he was introduced at the interval.<\/p>\n
Yet the Anfield icon couldn\u2019t quite spark\u00a0Liverpool into life, with the Reds salvaging a 1-1 draw when Florian Wirtz\u2019s effort deflected in off Nordi Mukiele with nine minutes of normal time left on the clock.<\/p>\n
That rounded off another promising display from the German, though it proved a night to forget for the player whose price tag surpassed that of Wirtz.<\/p>\n
Alexander Isak retained his starting berth ahead of Hugo Ekitike following his maiden Premier League goal for the club in Sunday\u2019s 2-0 victory at West Ham United.<\/p>\n
However, Isak looked unlikely to add to his goal tally against the Black Cats in midweek and was withdrawn late on by Federico Chiesa after a fleeting appearance alongside Isak, Wirtz and Salah.<\/p>\n
Speaking on Sky Sports during their match coverage,\u00a0Sturridge\u00a0commented: \u201cI\u2019m not the manager, I can\u2019t decide what I believe he will do, but I\u2019m saying if you\u2019re going to change the formation and play slightly different then I would go all the way with it<\/p>\n
\u201cSay, \u2018okay, let\u2019s have a look at Ekitike and Isak up top and see whether that\u2019s the answer\u2019. If you\u2019re going to leave Salah out again then I would try something different, have Wirtz in a number 10 behind them and see if that can open a few doors.\u201d<\/p>\n This marked the first instance in Salah\u2019s illustrious Liverpool career where he found himself warming the bench for two consecutive Premier League matches.<\/p>\n Jamie Redknapp, another former Red, speculated during a Sky Sports studio discussion alongside Sturridge, that the Egyptian superstar might depart from the club, possibly as soon as January.<\/p>\n While Sturridge didn\u2019t agree with this prediction, he did concede that his former team-mate appears discontented. He stated, \u201cYou never know in football, but I\u2019d like to think not.<\/p>\n \u201cHas he been performing to his level? No he hasn\u2019t, but nobody else has. He wants to be the reason they win, attackers are driven that way and Mo has delivered that at the club.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I am not quite sure he is the reason why Liverpool aren\u2019t (winning) \u2013 last season he was the reason they won the league and now we are quick to question (him).<\/p>\n \u201cIt hurts me to see. I can tell he is not happy and you wouldn\u2019t be because you are used to being the main man. There comes a time when there is a decision to make, but I don\u2019t think this is the stage we are at. The club and Salah can turn it around.\u201d<\/p>\n While the stalemate with Sunderland marked consecutive matches without a loss for the Reds ahead of a challenging visit to Leeds, who are riding high following their surprise 3-1 home victory over Chelsea, the display left more doubts than certainties.<\/p>\n Sturridge commented: \u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s a magic fix right now, to put my finger on one thing. I think the manager, at this moment in time, doesn\u2019t quite know his best XI.<\/p>\n \u201cPlayers are coming back and trying to find their fitness. Wirtz is trying to get sharp again; Isak\u2019s not completely sharp at his level; we saw Joe Gomez come in tonight at right-back, he\u2019s not been on the pitch starting games in a while.<\/p>\n \u201cSo collectively, players are finding their rhythm but the team\u2019s finding their rhythm.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd many people, including the manager, are probably seeking confidence and assurances that \u2018this is what I\u2019m going with, this is the structure\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Daniel Sturridge has opened up on the pain of seeing Mohamed Salah benched for Liverpool and urged Arne Slot to start all three summer signings together against Leeds Daniel Sturridge speaks about his former teammate Daniel Sturridge reckons\u00a0Arne Slot\u00a0should field all three of his major summer acquisitions together for the first time in the Premier [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":125397,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-125396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football"],"yoast_head":"\n\n![\"Daniel](\"https:\/\/i2-prod.liverpoolecho.co.uk\/incoming\/article33002682.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s615b\/0_GettyImages-2249814277.jpg\")
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