Salah could miss Arsenal after AFCON absence confirmed

Arne Slot has confirmed that Mohamed Salah will link up with Egypt for the Africa Cup of Nations on December 15th, potentially meaning he’ll miss Liverpool’s trip to Arsenal in January.

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ESPN report that Arne Slot has confirmed Mohamed Salah will leave Liverpool for the Africa Cup of Nations on December 15th, ahead of the tournament’s start date on December 21st.

Egypt’s group stage lasts until December 29th, so at a bare minimum Salah will miss Liverpool’s games away to Spurs (Dec. 20th) and home to Wolves (Dec. 27th).

Realistically, Salah will also miss the home game against Leeds United on January 1st, just three days after Egypt’s final group match on a different continent.

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After that, we’re speculating, as Salah’s absence depends on how Egypt perform.

If Egypt make it to the semi-finals (guaranteeing a spot in either the final or the third-place play-off that weekend), Salah will be absent for Liverpool’s Premier League matches against Fulham (A), Arsenal (A), and Burnley (H), and he’ll also miss the FA Cup third round.

Arsenal face Liverpool on January 8th, so Salah will certainly miss out if Egypt make the quarter-finals (January 9th-10th). He’d also be a serious doubt if Egypt even just make it out of the group, with the round of 16 on January 3rd-5th.

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As for how likely it is that Egypt progress to the knockouts, it should be a sure thing.

Egypt are the 34th-ranked country in the world, according to FIFA’s rankings, and they’re in a group with South Africa (61st), Angola (89th), and Zimbabwe (129th). Two teams guarantee progression from each of the six groups, but four of the six third-place teams also advance.

If Egypt can’t even do enough to finish third after playing three lower-ranked countries in the group stages, then Salah will return unexpectedly early, but significantly demoralised.