Liverpool faces the nightmare of 'lack of Salah'.

SALAH IS TOO IMPORTANT

Mohamed Salah has temporarily left Liverpool after the win against Newcastle to participate in AFCON 2023 (Africa Cup 2023, postponed to January 2024). Bad news for fans: this year's Africa Cup of Nations will run until February 11th, and Salah's Egyptian team is likely to go very far in the tournament (Egypt is the top-ranked team in terms of achievements in the Africa Cup of Nations). Not-so-bad news: the Premier League doesn't have many matches in January. The first month of the calendar year is always prioritized for the two cup competitions in England. This year's Premier League also has a winter break for the teams (each team gets two weeks off).

Salah is too important a player for Liverpool.

Not only is Salah shining in his own team, but he is also the most influential player in the Premier League currently. He is tied with Erling Haaland (Manchester City) for goalscoring, with Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa) for assists, and he alone is far ahead of all other players in terms of direct goal contributions (22 goals in 20 matches). Since joining Liverpool (in 2017), Salah has consistently been the team's top scorer – for six consecutive seasons, and this season will likely be no different.

One can imagine how Man City would score without Haaland. In other words, Man City have clearly demonstrated their ability to win without their top scorer in recent matches. Liverpool's "without Salah" problem will be much more serious. On the other hand, the story here also relates to playing style. Salah is a winger who moves into the center very well (so he's good at both scoring and assisting), not a pure center forward operating in the penalty box like Haaland. Without Salah, Liverpool will likely have to attack in a different way, rather than simply using a good striker to replace him.

WHO IS CURRENTLY IN THE LIVERPOOL TEAM?

On the one hand, manager Juergen Klopp reassured fans, in a perfunctory manner, that losing a key player is a normal situation that every team faces at the highest level of football. But on the other hand, Klopp admitted he couldn't adequately prepare for it. Everyone knows there will be an African Cup of Nations in January 2024, but how to prepare a concrete "Plan B" is another matter entirely. Should Liverpool have to train without Salah since October? Besides, even if they did, Klopp wouldn't know for sure who his number one striker would be this month!

Liverpool's current forward line consists of Darwin Nunez, Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz, and Cody Gakpo. Nunez has had his moments of brilliance, but also his unbelievable missed opportunities. It's impossible to predict what will happen if Liverpool use this inconsistent striker. In a situation where tactics need to be changed, and the squad isn't perfect, Klopp could rely more on Jota, given his intelligent play. However, Jota isn't very popular with Anfield fans. Gakpo and Diaz don't seem to be as good. Liverpool could also consider Harvey Elliott. He's an attacking midfielder, but can play further forward. He's also the only left-footed attacking player, like Salah.

Between now and February 11th, Liverpool will face Bournemouth, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Burnley in the Premier League. The FA Cup match against Arsenal this weekend could provide a glimpse of a Liverpool team without Salah. If problems arise, Klopp will have the opportunity to make adjustments in the next match: the first leg of the League Cup semi-final against Fulham (second leg on January 24th). A quick statistic: in Liverpool's three defeats this season (across all competitions), Salah was absent in two of them. The only match where Liverpool lost despite having Salah was when they were down to nine players (against Tottenham in the Premier League).

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