Mo Salah has come under heavy fire for his perceived drop-off in form in the 2025/26 season.
However, Paul Scholes actually believes that Liverpool teammate Alexis Mac Allister has suffered an even greater collapse.
The Argentine international played the majority (86 minutes) of the Reds’ 2-1 defeat to Chelsea on Saturday.
Paul Scholes shares Alexis Mac Allister concern
Salah’s return of six goal contributions in 10 games (across all competitions) has to be considered, by his lofty standards, a fall from grace.
That said, we can at least take into account mitigating factors like the changed makeup of the forward line and his apparent isolation on the right flank.
Paul Scholes, however, rightly pointed out that the Egyptian’s drop-off has been quite clearly eclipsed by that of Mac Allister’s this season.
“Salah’s an obvious one for now. But I thought Mac Allister was brilliant last season,” the former Manchester United star spoke on The Overlap’s Fan Debate show.
“I think he really controlled lots of games, didn’t he? He’s been in and out [this season].
“With Liverpool signing loads of players, it’s probably fried his head a little bit. He’s not really sure what’s what at the minute.
“We’re seven games into a Premier League season. These players are so good, it’ll soon work itself out.”
What do the stats say about Mac Allister’s Liverpool drop-off?
Your surface-level stats are always going to be a little less conclusive when it comes to a footballer like Alexis Mac Allister, who’s less directly involved in chance creation or defensive work.
However, the Argentine has experienced a significant drop-off from his average Sofascore rating in the 2024/25 season.
| Alexis Mac Allister average rating (2024/25) | Alexis Mac Allister average rating (2025/26) |
| 7.24 | 6.69 |
* Alexis Mac Allister average rating in the Premier League across two seasons, via Sofascore
But let’s not pretend that there aren’t any mitigating factors also at play for the former Brighton and Hove Albion star.
As Gareth Roberts rightly pointed out on Fan Debate, Mac Allister is far from being fully fit following his return from some injury struggles in the summer.
Likewise, the balance of the midfield is hardly ever constant, with Dominik Szoboszlai consistently shifting to right-back to mitigate against Liverpool’s struggles with the position.
Florian Wirtz adds a fresh dimension to our creative endeavours, but also a separate conundrum with regard to what Slot’s best midfield and Liverpool XI looks like.
It’s a good thing the head coach has a couple of weeks to try and answer some of these questions before the Reds take on Manchester United at Anfield.
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Whatever you say about our midfield players, gravenberch, szoboszlai, Alexis mac allister is our best midfielder. Without him we don’t click. Last season he picked up a bad injury and has been slow to recover, he looks well short of match fitness and a bit overweight. He was to blame for the first Chelsea goal, given casedo too much space. It’s vital he gets his fitness back. Whenever Jones or endo are in the midfield we are nowhere near as good, especially passing the ball forward.
Re. Mac Allister.
One cannot train with an injuries.
If he’s feeling a bit down, he may be taking solace in a bit of snacking (if you think he’s overweight).
I believe he’s also become a father recently.
That’s extra weight on a bloke’s mind.
Sounds like normal human behaviour to me.
He’s a highly talented grafter and once the injurious monkey’s off his back, he’ll be flying….
Gravenberch has been our best midfielder in terms of performance recently, but again, Arne commands the tactics/roles, the players carry them out.