Mohamed Salah and Wataru Endo no longer play for Liverpool. Egypt are the biggest contenders for Japan’s AFCON and Asian Cup and have at least secured a place in the playoffs, so it could be mid-February when both teams return. Either way, it’s not good news for Liverpool. But while Endo has started the last seven games in a row, Alexis McAllister is back and Argentina are top of the table.
Instead, when it comes to Salah’s overall impact and the number of goals he scores and scores, he is irreplaceable. Both will be missed, but Salah will clearly be the biggest loss. The 31-year-old has been in outstanding form this season and has been Liverpool’s player of the season so far. Asked at a press conference if he had no options for Salah and Endo, Jurgen Klopp joked: “I said I’d be lying if I said luck! Of course I didn’t.” “Personally, it would be nice to get to the group stage, but I think it’s probably not possible. We could win. So it was, “Good luck and come back safe.
“Although Klopp has joked that he doesn’t want to see the best of both worlds – he knows how important it is for both Salah and Endo to represent and captain their country. The Liverpool manager will miss them. The injury list is already long and Dominik Soboszlai has just joined. Not a good time to lose two stars who played significant minutes. “We have to solve this problem and we will,” Klopp said.
“I’m confident we’ll find a way.” And the rest of the “Liverpool” team will become stronger. But there’s no reason to doubt his abilities. In Salah’s last AFCON appearance, Liverpool were without Sadio Mane, who won the title in Senegal, and Naby Keita, who played for Guinea.
