They reached their second Carabao Cup semi-final in three years, with Fulham facing them in the second leg in January. This match will extend Liverpool’s busy run. Liverpool will effectively settle into the Premier League winter break and will be without two key players. Salah and Endo will both miss the matches due to their participation in the Africa Cup of Nations and the Asian Cup respectively.
The Africa Cup of Nations is set to be played in Ivory Coast from January 13 to February 11 and Liverpool hope to play Arsenal in the FA Cup third round on January 7 before Salah joins Egypt. In addition, as the Asian Cup will be held in Qatar from January 12 to February 10, Endo can also expect a busy schedule with Japan. Egypt will face Mozambique (January 14), Ghana (January 18) and Cape Verde (January 22) in the group stage, while Japan will face Vietnam (January 14), Iraq (January 19), will play Indonesia ( January 24). This means Salah and Endo will miss at least the next few games, including the first leg against Fulham. Fulham (H) v Carabao Cup Semi-Final – January 9/10Bournemouth (away) – Premier League – January 21Fulham (A) – Carabao Cup semi-final – January 23/24If one or both players fail to represent their country, they could miss a further four games, including the FA Cup fourth round tie on the weekend of January 27/28.
Doha, Qatar – Sunday, November 27, 2022: Wataru Endo of Japan during the Japan vs Costa Rica Group E match of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium. Costa Rica won 1-0. Liverpool finished top of Group E and qualified directly for the last 16, avoiding the need for a Europa League play-off.
Otherwise, they would have played two games – home and away – against Galatasaray, Lens, Braga, Benfica, Feyenoord, AC Milan, Young Boys and Shakhtar Donetsk in February. Egypt are expected to top the group after drawing in the round of 16 on January 27/28/29/30, while Japan are favorites to win the Asian Cup.
Liverpool have now reached the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup after beating West Ham 5-1 and know they will face Fulham without Mohamed Salah and Endo Wataru. The Reds put in a great performance against West Ham at Anfield, Dominik Szoboszlai opening the scoring before a brace from Curtis Jones and goals from Salah and Cody Gakpo.
