21 January 2024 , 15:48
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Jurgen Klopp has admitted he is still yet to discover the full extent of the injury Mohamed Salah has suffered while way playing at the Africa Cup of Nations.
"In the last AFCON we were missing both Mo and Sadio [Mane] when Senegal played Egypt in the final so for us, it’s normal. We’ve already played a few games without him already this season, we played against West Ham without him and we have alternatives," he told Sky Sports.
"It’s not a problem where we’re scrambling to see how we can replace Mo. He’s away, he’s injured as well, we don’t know how long that will take but I’m happy with the team we have today.
"It’s not the best bench we’ve ever had but there are good players on the bench and we can hopefully stay fit and look towards the next game after this one."
Salah is set to miss Egypt's next two games at the tournament in the Ivory Coast after sustaining the injury during the 2-2 draw with Ghana in his nation's second match. In their first outing, Salah was forced to step up to save them from an embarrassing defeat against Mozambique.
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The minnows were winning 2-1 until the 97th minute before the Liverpool star stepped up from the penalty spot to equalise right at the death. The Egypt FA have since confirmed that Salah was sent for X-rays, with the star now ruled out of their next two games.
"Mohamed Salah suffers a strain in his back muscle and will miss two matches in the African Nations," the Egyptian FA said in a statement released on social media.
HAVE YOUR SAY! Will Liverpool be able to replace Mohamed Salah while he is absent? Comment below.
Salah was injured during Egypt's draw with Ghana (AP)"The x-rays that Mohamed Salah, the captain of the Egyptian national team, underwent, showed that he suffered a strain in the posterior muscle, and he will miss the team’s next two matches in the African Nations against Cape Verde, and then the round of 16 match in the event of qualification."
While Salah away on international duty, Klopp is backing Harvey Elliott to help fill the sizeable hole left by the Egyptian. Elliott was selected to start against Bournemouth on Sunday, with Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez in attack.
Though Klopp is battling with injuries and Salah's absence, the Liverpool boss is backing his side to continue the form that has sent them surging to the top of the Premier League. And he is confident they can manage while Salah is away.
"We have had these two for so long now, Curtis has been with us for a long time, Harvey as well - they’re young but they already have a lot of miles in them, a lot of experience. It’s all fine, they’re experienced enough, everyone has to show up and play the way we want to play," he added.
"If we can do that, I think teams will really hate playing against us. We’ve had a break, 11 days or something like that, and I didn’t really think about it. I expect us to be spot on [for the rest of the season] to be honest, to be organised, to be ready, and we’re in a very good moment.
"Everyone has had the same break as us and we’re all missing players, missing key players, so it’s all special. Top of the table always sounds like ‘Oh no, how are we going to stay there?’ but for me, it’s about winning football games. That’s the only way I know of staying in that position so that’s what we’re going to try and do today."