Jamie Redknapp believes that "something has to give" between Mohamed Salah and Liverpool boss Arne Slot after the Egyptian was left on the bench for the second game running during the 1-1 draw with Sunderland.
Slot opted to leave Salah out of the starting XI for the win over West Ham on Sunday, but despite suggesting rotation was the reason for his omission last weekend, the manager left his star forward out once again at Anfield.
It is a stark turnaround in fortunes for Salah, who had started 53 consecutive games before missing out at the London Stadium, leading Redknapp to believe that it could be the beginning of the end for the 33-year-old on Merseyside.
"I wouldn't compare it to when Alan Shearer was left out by Ruud Gullit all those years ago and it ended up being a massive clash where one had to go, but it does feel like something has to give," Redknapp said when discussing Salah's omission post-match.
"There is no way Mohamed Salah is going to be content being a bit-part player in this team.
"Whether it's in January or in the summer, if he finds the right clubs, I think he deserves the right to move on if things aren't going to go his way.
"I can only see that outcome. Now that trust is broken, especially with someone like Salah, he needs that confidence and love from a manager."
Salah was brought on at half-time as Liverpool looked to find the breakthrough but struggled to make much of an impact.
"I don't feel it's going to end well either way," Redknapp added.
"Salah will be looking at it thinking, 'I'm an elite player, there's no way I want to be sitting on the bench for Liverpool'.
"For the manager to leave him out in a situation where you're possibly going to lose him for eight games at AFCON, you've got to play him while you can.
"He is their superstar footballer but he [Slot] clearly doesn't believe that right now. He didn't come on and make the impact Liverpool fans would want. It was a really difficult night for him."
Salah's downturn in form comes after he put pen to paper on a new multi-year deal at the end of last season following months of speculation.
Despite that, his difficulties this season have led some to speculate his time at the club may be coming to an end just months later. But former team-mate Daniel Sturridge does not believe things have reached that stage.
"We talk about stats and numbers. That's what he's known for. Has he delivered those this season? No, he hasn't. But nobody else has either," Sturridge claimed.
"He wants to be the reason why the team wins. Attackers are usually driven that way.
"Mo has delivered that since he's joined the football club. This is the first season where we can question him. I'm not quite sure that Mohamed Salah is the reason Liverpool aren't winning.
"Last season, he was the reason they won the league. A man of his quality, you can tell it hurts him.
"There comes a time in every player's career where managers, owners have decisions to make. I don't think this is the stage we're at. I think the club can turn it around in terms of performances and I think Salah can turn it around.
Jamie Carragher was critical of Liverpool's performance on co-commentary throughout the game, but made it clear pre-match that the decision to leave Salah out was no longer down to Slot feeling the need to rest his star man.
"I expected Mo Salah to play today," Carragher stated.
"Arne Slot can dress the weekend up as Liverpool have four games in 10 days and you have to look at which games you play him in.
"Sunderland will play deep and make it difficult, so I expected this to be the one where Salah plays. For him to be on the bench doesn't feel like rest or rotation; it's dropped.
"I've said this season I don't think Mo Salah should play every game, but when I said that I was thinking predominantly away games - not so much at Anfield. I'm surprised.
"Sooner or later, Liverpool do have to pivot away from being the Salah team and towards being the Wirtz and Isak team, and maybe we saw a glimpse of that."
Analysis from SportNews' Callum Bishop:
It doesn't take a genius to see that something isn't quite going to plan for Mohamed Salah and Liverpool this season. But who is to blame?
After 14 Premier League games last season, the Egyptian had 13 goals, nine more than his current total. He also had eight assists compared to two this term.
If you then compare Liverpool's numbers as a whole, their xG is down from 29.16 to 22.53. That downward trajectory is also aligned with Salah's (10.49 to 3.50).
What is interesting about both though is how their chances-created metric stacks up. After 14 games, Liverpool created 170 chances in 2024/25. A year on, they are roughly the same at 168. Salah individually is also around the same level too, going from 28 to 26.
What is seemingly happening is the arrival of Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike is preventing Salah from getting into as many goalscoring positions he can profit from, while simultaneously he struggles to adapt into more of a creative threat than he perhaps already was.
It is a true mesh of styles where it would appear only one of Salah and Slot can come out on top. Time will tell who.
Watch Liverpool take on Leeds United on Saturday, live on SportNews with kick-off at 5.30pm.
