How many Premier League games could Liverpool forward Mo Salah miss because of AFCON 2023?

As is customary every couple of years, clubs in most European countries will soon be cursing the timing of the upcoming 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, to be played in 2024, which once more will take place slap bang in the middle of their domestic seasons. The tournament will be held in the Ivory Coast between 13 January and 11 February 2024, which will present significant problems for a number of teams, not least Premier League title hopefuls Liverpool, who will lose key man Mohamed Salah.

Salah’s 2023-24 Premier League numbers

The Reds will certainly not be the only affected club in the English top flight, with Nottingham Forest set to be without eight players for an extended spell. But it could quite easily be argued no AFCON participant is as important to his team as Salah is to Liverpool, especially given their lofty position in the table.

Jürgen Klopp’s side have set themselves up perfectly for a Premier League title tilt, with Arsenal also looking like potential challengers after Manchester City’s indifferent recent form. Salah has been vital to their early-season success, scoring 11 goals and providing seven assists in his first 17 league appearances of the season.

How many Liverpool games will Salah sit out?

How many matches Salah misses will depend on how far Egypt go in the comPetition. Drawn in Group B with Ghana, Cape Verde and Mozambique, the expectation is for them to reach the latter stages, as they have done in the last three editions (the final in 2017 and 2021, the round of 16 in 2019).

The 31-year-old is set to link up with his national team after Liverpool’s home league Game against Newcastle on 1 January and will definitely miss three matches, although that will likely be a minimum of four.

Should Egypt fail to qualify for the knockout stages, Salah will sit out the FA Cup third round fixture away to Arsenal (7 January), the League Cup semi-final first leg at home to Fulham (10 January) and the Premier League Game at Bournemouth (21 January). The return leg of the semi-final is scheduled for 24 January, only two days after Egypt play their last group Game against Cape Verde, which would be a very quick turnaround for the attacker.

A group-stage elimination for Egypt would potentially see Salah miss only one Premier League fixture. But were the Pharaohs to make it to a third final in four tournaments on 11 February, the winger would also be unavailable for league Games at home to Chelsea (31 January), away to Arsenal (4 February) and at home to Burnley (10 February). The fourth round of the FA Cup also takes place on the weekend of Saturday 27 February.

Which Liverpool games could Salah miss?

Salah will definitely miss:

  • 7 January: Arsenal - Liverpool (FA Cup third round)
  • 10 January: Liverpool - Fulham (League Cup semi-final, first leg)
  • 21 January: Bournemouth - Liverpool (Premier League)

Salah will probably miss:

  • 24 January: Fulham - Liverpool (League Cup semi-final, second leg)

Salah could miss:

  • 27 January: FA Cup fourth round
  • 31 January: Liverpool - Chelsea (Premier League)
  • 4 February: Arsenal - Liverpool (Premier League)
  • 10 February: Liverpool - Burnley (Premier League)

Egypt’s 2023 Africa Cup of Nations schedule

Group stage

  • 14 January: Egypt - Mozambique
  • 18 January: Egypt - Ghana
  • 22 January: Cape Verde - Egypt

Knockout stage

  • Round of 16: 27-30 January
  • Quarter-finals: 2-3 February
  • Semi-finals: 7 February
  • Final: 11 February

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