Leeds United vs. Liverpool: Why Arne Slot should be fearful of another Premier League defeat as Mohamed Salah issue lingers

Liverpool should be fearful of another defeat when they play Leeds United on Saturday, Reds expert David Lynch has admitted.

The Merseysiders will travel to Elland Road to take on Leeds in their 15th Premier League game of the season, and they head into that clash having drawn 1-1 with Sunderland on Wednesday at Anfield.

Arne Slot opted for a more defensive approach in that stalemate, but his side still conceded first, and they were fortunate that Federico Chiesa was diligent enough to track back and clear an attempt off the line late on.

Speaking to Sports Mole, Lynch was fearful of the threat posed by Leeds, saying: "The worry going into this period was that Daniel Farke was going to get sacked and Liverpool were going to be facing a Leeds side with a new manager bounce.

"But what's instead happened is Leeds have performed well in both of their last two games and come into this one full of confidence. You're making a case that Leeds are probably going to turn them over, as the fact is Liverpool are just very easily got at.

"Late on a Saturday, the atmosphere will be good, Leeds are feeling confident and feeling like they can win a game like this. Liverpool look fragile and very easily beaten, so it's a huge worry."

Leeds beat Chelsea 3-1 on Wednesday at Elland Road, and a similar performance on Saturday will likely cause the visitors numerous problems.

Mohamed Salah team news: Who should Arne Slot start against Leeds?

Talisman Mohamed Salah has been singled out by pundits such as Jamie Carragher for his performances this campaign, and Slot named him on the substitute bench in both of team's last two fixtures.

There are question marks about whether the winger will start on Saturday, but given Liverpool struggled to create chances against Sunderland, many fans have called for the 33-year-old to feature.

However, Lynch insisted that team selection will change little on the weekend, when he told Sports Mole: "I feel like it might be an irrelevance because whoever comes in at the moment it doesn't seem to be making much difference.

"I won't read too much into the starting XI when I see it. I won't expect a good Liverpool performance whether Joe Gomez plays a third game in a week or not. As for Mohamed Salah, he only got a half against Sunderland so he's probably fully fresh.

"The fact is he goes to AFCON so you might as well squeeze all the juice out of him that you can before he goes. The one thing you need to see no matter who lines up is a competent, confident Liverpool performance, but I don't expect it in the slightest quite frankly."

Salah will leave on December 15, but he will hope to add to the four goals and two assists he has managed so far in the Premier League before he departs to play for Egypt later this month.

Arne Slot sack fear: Can Liverpool boss turn it around?

Liverpool head to Elland Road having now failed to win 10 of their last 14 games, losing nine times, and they have only achieved one victory in their past five matches.

Fourth-placed Chelsea are just two points ahead of Slot's side, but he has benefitted from the fact the teams competing for the Champions League have also been inconsistent.

Lynch expressed doubt about Slot's ability to turn the team's fortunes around, telling Sports Mole: "What result here would make you keep faith in the manager and his ability to turn it around?

"The manager needs a performance and he needs a result, so he needs to come up with some idea that's going to get Liverpool those two things, but I can't say having watched them recently that I've got any faith in that happening.

"Arne Slot desperately needs Liverpool to start performing better at some point, or it's really impossible to make the case that he's going to be able to continue in his role."

A defeat for the Reds could leave the trailing the top four by five points, and the position of Slot would likely become untenable should the club lose for a 10th time in 15 games.

> Click here to listen to the full discussion on Liverpool's game against Leeds United on Saturday