Jurgen Klopp has revealed which Liverpool games Mohamed Salah would miss due to the Africa Cup of Nations.
Egypt’s captain will miss Premier League, Carabao Cup, and FA Cup matches in January as the striker travels to the Ivory Coast.
Liverpool expects to lose Mohamed Salah to the Africa Cup of Nations following their New Year’s Day match against Newcastle, which means he will miss the FA Cup match against Arsenal.
Salah is scheduled to skipper Egypt at the tournament in Ivory Coast and might be absent until the middle of February, missing both legs of Liverpool’s Carabao Cup semi-final against Fulham as well as potentially important Premier League clashes with Chelsea and Arsenal.
Japan captain Wataru Endo is also scheduled to attend the Asian Cup in Qatar at the same time, giving Liverpool an additional reason to hope that teammate midfielder Alexis Mac Allister recovers from his knee injury in time for the visit to Emirates Stadium on January 7.
Liverpool face Arsenal in a top-of-the-table clash at Anfield on Saturday, with Jurgen Klopp revealing that they have only had 135 minutes on the training pitch since returning from their Europa League tie in Brussels against Union Saint-Gilloise, and this in between preparing for a Premier League clash with Manchester United and a Carabao Cup tie win over West Ham.
The Hammers were defeated 5-1 at Anfield despite making six changes, but Klopp defended David Moyes, whose side is also in Europe and has the same schedule as the Hammers, but now faces Manchester United in Saturday’s early kick-off.
“I never had a problem with the 12.30 if we don’t play on Wednesday night,” Klopp remarked. I noticed that West Ham plays at 12.30 p.m. You must ask yourself, “Is that correct?” You’re competing in a game where each team should obtain around the same… (time). West Ham had the same schedule as us: Thursday, Sunday, Wednesday, and Saturday [but] at 12.30. It’s not a problem if you have a week off before.
“People still believe it’s okay to put West Ham in that game… and criticize David Moyes during the week he makes changes. They’ve been in the company for that long, and they still wonder, “Why did you make changes?” “Are you happy with your team selection?” you dare to ask David Moyes.
“Because we play at 5.30, the boys get more sleep.” Breakfast is ready when you are… and they [West Ham] get up at 7.30 and toss in the noodles at 9! Do you think that’s fair? What do you think about that? Whoever is doing that, why can’t they look at that?
“How did you come up with the idea to give them a 12.30 after that week?” We have nothing to do with it. Put our shirts away and think about broader football issues. We only talk about it when we are in the position. It’s not good. “How is that even possible?”
