Mohamed Salah’s injury situation is what Liverpool is most concerned about at the moment, after they witnessed the Egyptian star in trouble in CAN 2023. The question is whether The Reds can win the Premier League or not. What if Salah is absent in the near future?
Recently, the Egyptian Football Federation confirmed that Salah will miss the next two matches at CAN 2023 due to a muscle injury. The Liverpool striker will not be able to play in the final match of the group stage, when Egypt faces Cape Verde on January 23. In case Egypt passes the group stage and enters the 1/8 round, they will also not have the admiration of Salah.
Thus, Salah will only be able to play again for the Egyptian national team at CAN 2023 if they win the right to the quarterfinals. Currently, Egypt has only 2 points after 2 matches at CAN 2023, and is even at risk of being eliminated. They need to win against top team Cape Verde to be able to determine their own fate.
With this news, Liverpool can temporarily breathe a sigh of relief. However, complications can occur at any time, and Salah can completely re-injure himself, or the injury will be more severe if he does not receive careful care and recovery. This season, Salah continues to be Liverpool’s main goalscorer. After 27 appearances in all competitions, the striker born in 1992 has scored 18 goals. In the Premier League alone, Salah has scored 14 goals, and with Man City’s Erling Haaland leads the top scorer list.
Salah is still too important to Liverpool, and the proof is that he has played every match for the club in the Premier League this season. The last time the Egyptian international sat out a match at the country’s highest playground was at the end of the 2021/22 season, in Liverpool’s 2-1 victory over Southampton. Statistics show that Salah has only missed 10 matches in the Premier League in 6 and a half years with Liverpool – an unbelievable number.
In the 10 matches Salah sat out in the Premier League, Liverpool were undefeated. They collected a total of 24 points with 7 wins and 3 draws. Liverpool drew 1-1 with MU in October 2019 thanks to Adam Lallana’s 85th minute equalizer. The Reds’ two other undefeated matches both came in the Merseyside derby against Everton, in April 2018 and June 2020, respectively, with a 0-0 result.
Although Liverpool won the remaining 7 matches, 4 of them had a slim one-goal margin. The 2-1 wins over Burnley in January 2018 and Crystal Palace in November 2019 both came thanks to brilliance in the 85th minute or later. That partly shows that Jurgen Klopp’s team is still facing many difficulties after losing Salah. The most visible positive point is that Liverpool always knows how to overcome adversity to achieve beneficial results.
Tomorrow afternoon (January 21), Liverpool will be a guest against Bournemouth in round 21 of the 2023/24 Premier League. Salah will definitely not be able to play, and if this player’s injury situation does not progress well, or the Egyptian team slips through a narrow gap to advance in CAN 2023, Liverpool will be without Salah in the match against Chelsea and next. came an extremely important heroic performance for Arsenal on February 4.
With the data we have had in the past, Liverpool is clearly not afraid or shaky when their number 1 star is absent. With his strategic talent, Klopp always knows how to overcome and turn risks into opportunities. It’s just that Liverpool’s ability to break through and create breakthroughs will decline. Salah is important, but not irreplaceable. To be fair, The Reds also need to get used to the absence of Salah, because the Egyptian striker’s time at Anfield is running out. Salah will turn 32 next June, and he will likely make a different choice for the rest of his career.
In the immediate future, Liverpool has enough personnel, spirit and concentration to be ready to overcome difficulties even without Salah. Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez, Diogo Jota or even Harvey Elliott, Alexis Mac Allister or Curtis Jones can all speak up to help Liverpool overcome difficulties. Losing Salah is not a disaster. The bad things will only come if The Reds lose the will they have shown throughout the first half of the season to stubbornly occupy the top of the Premier League rankings. If they continue to maintain what they have, Liverpool can temporarily forget Salah to overcome the difficult period ahead.
Don’t be too happy to see Liverpool lose Salah!