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Liverpool boss Arne Slot has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against West Ham at Anfield (kick-off 15:00 GMT).
Here are the key lines from his news conference:
- Jeremie Frimpong has trained "a few times this week" so is available to face West Ham.
- Florian Wirtz remains sidelined with an injury which he described as "a disappointment for him and for us". On the timescale for his return, he added: "I don't know. Usually when I say that, I do know and I don't want to share that. But this time, I honestly don't know."
- Slot said ending Mohamed Salah's goalless run is a "challenge he has" and "a team thing they have to improve" on.
- More on Salah: "He sets his own standards and they were so, so high. When he doesn't score for a few games, it means people are surprised. We are used to Mo scoring a lot of goals, but we also know this has happened before and in the end, he always starts scoring again."
- Slot added that Salah "is not our only attacker that's not scoring as much", as Hugo Ekitike and Cody Gakpo have also not scored as many recently.
- On another win putting pressure on teams battling for the top four: "We're not so focused on other teams and mainly on ourselves. We know we need to win a lot of games and that is what our focus is on. We are aware of the league table."
- He said Rio Ngumoha's playing time has improved massively over the past few weeks because he "developed and became a better player".
- On facing another team near the bottom of the league after struggling to break down Nottingham Forest last weekend: "I cannot manipulate the fact we have struggled a lot against the teams who were promoted or near the bottom. We understand how difficult winning games in general is - it doesn't matter where they are in the table."
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Salah backed to break Liverpool goal drought
Arne Slot expressed confidence in Mohamed Salah despite the forward not scoring in his last nine Premier League appearances. The Liverpool manager is not concerned about the striker's goal drought ahead of the visit from West Ham.
Salah's current nine-game goal drought is the longest of his Liverpool career. The Egyptian international has been contributing with assists during this period, maintaining his impact on the team's performance.
Slot reveals that Ekitike eager to sharpen heading as Liverpool forward aims to raise game
Liverpool manager Arne Slot says Hugo Ekitike is keen to improve his heading as he looks to improve his game.
Ekitike has made a big impact sincesigning for Liverpool from Eintracht Frankfurt last summer, for an initial fee of £69m. The Frenchman has scored 15 goals in 36 appearances across all competitions and is Liverpool's leading scorer in 2025-26.
However, he has scored just twice in his last eightPremier League appearances, netting a brace against Newcastle United on January 31st.
Ekitike has been guilty of missing some big headed chances in recent weeks, with opportunities spurned against Manchester City and Nottingham Forest.
Slot has said the forward wants to work on his heading as he looks to reach the next level, adding that it's 'normal' to have areas of improvement at Ekitike's age (23).
The Dutchman also discussed the need for all of his forwards to contribute, amid questions over Mohamed Salah's recent nine-game drought in thePremier League.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference ahead of facing West Ham this weekend, Slot said: "We are used to [Salah] scoring a lot of goals - I think that's the biggest difference in his performances right now.
"But we also know, even in my time, it has happened. I've had questions about Mo not scoring for three or four games but I know he always scores again in the end. That's the challenge he and we have at the moment.
"He is not our only attacker who doesn't score as much as we are used to. It is not that the focus should be all on him, Hugo [Ekitike] and Cody [Gakpo] haven't scored that many goals recently as well, so it is a team thing. But we keep clean sheets, so we don't need to score as many."