"The tactics haven't changed, but the personnel have" - Michael Owen reveals key reason behind Liverpool star Mo Salah's dip in form

Former Liverpool striker Michael Owen believes Mohamed Salah's age and Trent Alexander-Arnold's departure are the key reasons for the Egyptian's form. He is confident that the forward will be back to his best soon and just needs a bit of time.

Speaking to Sky Bet, Owen said that Salah is at an age when the Englishman retired from football and believes the body has slowed down. He added that it would not be a surprise if the Egyptian starts scoring from the next match and said (via GOAL):

"Salah has been scoring goals for years and years. Nobody would be surprised if he scored in his next game and went on a run. If there's anyone in the Premier League you shouldn't doubt, it's him. That said, if there's something more going on, then age could be a factor - he's 33 now. I retired at that age myself, so you can't go on forever. That's one possible reason."

Owen added that Conor Bradley is different from Alexander-Arnold, and that has forced Salah to drop deeper to get the ball, and said:

"Another is that there's no Trent Alexander-Arnold feeding him those balls anymore - the dynamic has changed. Conor Bradley plays differently, he looks to run past Salah rather than serve him. I did some analysis on TV showing that Salah is picking up the ball about 10 per cent deeper on average than last season."

"The tactics haven't changed, but the personnel have. Or it could just be that the team isn't firing yet. Every attacking player goes through a spell like this. It's more likely just a blip, and he'll bounce back soon, but it could be a bit of all the above."

Mohamed Salah has scored just two goals and assisted as many times in the Premier League this season. The Liverpool star has managed just one goal in the UEFA Champions League and was benched for the 5-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt and the 1-0 loss to Galatasaray.

Arne Slot not worried about Liverpool star Mohamed Salah

Liverpool manager Arne Slot spoke about Mohamed Salah in his pre-Brentford press conference, admitting that he was not worried about his star player's form. He added that it was a new situation as the Egyptian is not used to missing chances and said:

"I don't know if it's sharpness or not. It's so difficult for me to say why this is – I could come up with a few reasons, which I'm not sure that is the reason. But I think in general, in football players miss chances, and Mo is a human being as well. We are not used to him missing chances, let alone a few in a row, but these things can happen."

Liverpool have lost their last three matches in the Premier League, slipping from first to third in the table.