Credit: Imago

Declan Carr

Thu 14 May 2026 16:10, UK

Mohamed Salah will be back in action when Liverpool travel to Aston Villa on Friday.

The Egyptian has missed the Reds’ last two Premier League matches with a thigh injury suffered in the April clash with Crystal Palace.

Unai Emery would have hoped that he would have missed the Villa Park clash on 15 May, as he has been a thorn in the Villans’ side for years.

However, Anfield boss Arne Slot confirmed that Salah could play some part in the contest, in his pre-match press conference on 14 May.

Villa will have to come up with a plan to stop the former Chelsea man, as they are one of his favourite opponents.

What did Slot say about Salah’s involvement vs Aston Villa?

Villa go into the clash with Liverpool as underdogs, with the visitors handed a 42.6 per cent chance of victory by Opta’s supercomputer.

Slot revealed that Salah, who has often been Villa’s tormentor, should be fit enough to come off the bench in the contest.

The Dutchman said: “Mo [Salah] will be available tomorrow for only a few minutes, but hopefully can come in.”

Why Villa need to be very careful with Salah

Salah has won 10 of the 14 matches that he has played against the B6 club, with three draws and just one loss.

He has notched 10 goals and five assists in those games, which is the 10th most goals and the joint-fifth most assists that he has against any club in his career.

Clearly, he enjoys himself when playing against Emery’s side, and the Spaniard will be terrified if he gets onto the pitch.

The Egypt international has 21 goal contributions (12 goals, nine assists) in all competitions this season, which is not his usual levels, but given his impressive record against the Lions, it would be foolish to rule him out.

Emery and his coaches will have to come up with a plan to stop him and nullify him, if they are to get anything from the game and essentially secure a spot in the Champions League next season.

Of course, they could do so by winning the Europa League final against Freiburg, but this is not guarenteed so they must do all they can to qualify by league position too, and stopping Salah would help their case.