Will Mohamed Salah’s AFCON commitment be a huge loss for title contenders Liverpool?

On a cold Monday night which happened to be New Year’s day, Mohamed Salah was at his absolute best for Liverpool against Newcastle.

The thrilling encounter produced six second half goals after the first period ended goalless.

Fans were carried away by the 31-year-old’s majestic performance that they forgot he’d be absent for the next few weeks.

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The realisation of that comes with some sort of pain as the Egyptian has been Liverpool’s best player.

His returns in the final third show how dangerous he is and how important he is for the Reds.

Fourteen goals and eight assists means he is the top goal-contributor in the Premier League this season after 20 matches.

Against the Magpies, Salah scored twice and created an assist in Liverpool’s 4-2 victory – even after missing a first half penalty.

With the win, Liverpool now maintain a three-point lead over second-placed Aston Villa.

Liverpool to be without Salah

However, Jurgen Klopp’s side will have to prosecute a run of fixtures without Salah. The winger will be heading to the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) with Egypt.

The final of the competition goes down on 11 February. This means if the Pharaohs make it to that stage, then Salah could miss eight matches for Liverpool. That’s if they progress in the FA Cup.

That run includes Arsenal in the FA Cup third round on Sunday, and in the Premier League on 4 February.

Also, there is also the two-legged game against Fulham in the Carabao Cup semi-final. League fixtures against Bournemouth, Chelsea and Burnley are also going to be missed by Salah.

Following his brace against Eddie Howe’s side, Salah surpassed 150 top-flight goals for Liverpool.

Following his exploits, Klopp described the former Roma and Chelsea player as a “goalscoring machine”.

How will Liverpool cope?

Interestingly, Liverpool have avoided defeat in all 10 Premier League outings without Mohamed Salah since the player joined the Merseyside club in 2017-18.

In as much as his absence will be a huge loss for the Reds, it is noteworthy that they have coped well without him before now.

The player even opined that his club is good enough without him: “We have some really good players, players who can play in my position.

“We believe a lot. We need to work hard and express ourselves on the field. If we manage to do that then we can keep winning.”