Alan Shearer has come up with three possible reasons for Mohamed Salah’s dramatic downturn this season while Jamie Carragher has urged Liverpool boss Arne Slot to “play someone else”.

Slot’s side have lost five of their last six Premier League games to slip from the top of the table into eighth, eight points behind league-leaders Arsenal.

And on the back of their insipid performance in the 3-0 defeat to Manchester City on SundayShearer believes that’s too big a margin for the Reds to make up and claims they “won’t win anything” if they fail to improve.

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He told Betfair: “If Liverpool continue to play like they did against Manchester City, then they won’t win anything.

“They’ll get dumped out of whatever competitions they’re in. They’ve got the FA Cup and the Champions League, but I do think the league’s gone for them now they’ve lost five games.

“I don’t see them being in a title race now. I think they would have to probably win every single game between now and the end of the season.

“I don’t think that’s possible. So, I think their title race is done. It’s the Champions League or the FA Cup for Liverpool, but they won’t be winning any of those unless they improve anyway.”

One of the standout factors in Liverpool’s poor form has been Salah’s slump after driving them to the title with 29 goals and 18 assists last season.

He’s managed just four goals and two assist this term and Shearer speculated as to what’s changed with the Egyptian hero.

“Mo Salah’s nowhere near what he was last season or what he’s been like,” Shearer said. “I don’t know whether (Salah) feels because of the money that has been spent on Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak that he’s not the number one player anymore.

“There’s definitely something that’s not right, whether that’s the old age thing getting to him and not being as good as he was, or whether he’s got a bee in his bonnet about something.

“But we’re definitely not seeing the same Mo Salah as what we’ve seen. You could say that about most Liverpool players actually.”

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Jamie Carragher believes Slot can no longer play Salah if he’s not contributing in attack while failing to defend.

“If you’re not scoring the goals at one end and you’re leaving your team your exposed at the other you’re basically getting nothing from this tactical ploy of allowing Mo Salah just to stay up top,” Carragher said on The Overlap. “So he’s either got to come back [defensively] or you’ve got to play someone else.

“That’s why I said a few weeks ago the days of Mo Salah starting every week especially away from home, have to stop.”