Departures in the Premier League: Salah is missing from Liverpool, Manchester City remains completely

Liverpool FC will be missing Mohamed Salah and Wataru Endo in the coming weeks as they play in the Africa Cup of Nations and the Asian Continental Championship. Title rivals Manchester City are spared from being sent off.

He didn’t want to say goodbye to the national team with such a performance, said Mohamed Salah about the thoughts that came to him on New Year’s Day during the break in the game against Newcastle United. He was referring to the missed penalty in the first half. After the break he scored two goals, including one from a penalty, and an assist. Salah excelled in the Premier League leaders’ 4-2 win and was named player of the match.

In England they love such individual awards, probably because you can find a sponsor for each one. The jersey sponsor of Liverpool FC, for example, awards the “Player of the Month”, and for December 2023 the choice fell on Wataru Endo, who moved from VfB Stuttgart to Mersey for the current season.

However, both Salah and Endo will be missing from coach Jürgen Klopp’s team in the coming weeks. Salah, who scored 14 goals and provided eight assists this season to top the respective rankings, will play with Egypt in the Africa Cup of Nations, which will be played in Ivory Coast from January 13 to February 11.

Endo with Japan at the Asian Cup in Qatar

Endo, who represented World Champion Alexis Mac Allister, who is now back in action, excellently in defensive midfield during his injury, is taking part in the Asian Cup with Japan, which will be played in Qatar from January 12th to February 10th.

The first Liverpool game that the two will miss is on Sunday (January 7th, 2024) in the third round of the FA Cup at Arsenal FC. The Gunners will also be without two players, perhaps even more so when the two teams meet again in the Premier League on February 4th. Takehiro Tomiyasu plays alongside Endo for Japan, Mohamed Elneny with Salah for Egypt.

Onana on Sundays at Manchester United, on Mondays at Cameroon

The Premier League is giving its teams a little relief by splitting the 21st matchday into two parts. Five games will be played between January 13th and 15th, with the remaining five a week later. It’s Manchester United’s turn against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday (January 14, 2024) and can therefore still use André Onana. Cameroon still allowed the goalkeeper to play, even though they started the Africa Cup of Nations the next day with a game against Guinea.

United’s city rivals Manchester City have no players in their squad who have been called up for continental championships, nor do Newcastle United and Burnley FC. Theoretically, something can change, as the African association has not yet published the official lists by Friday afternoon (January 5th, 2024).

Tottenham is hit just as hard by the absence of Salah as Liverpool FC by the absence of Son Heung-min, who plays with South Korea in Qatar. West Ham United lament the absence of Ghanaian Mohammed Kudus.

In quantitative terms, the hardest hit is Nottingham Forest. The new coach Nuno Espírito Santo has to do without six players.