Jurgen Klopp has backed Liverpool to cope while Mohamed Salah and Wataru Endo are on international duty in the coming weeks, as the Reds prepare to face Arsenal in the FA Cup on Sunday.
Liverpool will be without two key players for the rest of January and into February, with Salah departing to captain Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast, while Endo will lead Japan at the Asian Cup in Qatar.
Egypt and Japan are among the favourites to win their respective tournaments, and if both sides go all the way, Salah and Endo could be away until mid-February.
The Africa Cup of Nations final takes place on February 11, one day after the Asian Cup showpiece. Liverpool have seven fixtures between now and February 11, including Sunday’s FA Cup third-round tie at the Emirates Stadium and a two-legged EFL Cup semi-final against Fulham.
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Asked what he said to Salah and Endo before they departed at Friday’s pre-match press conference, Klopp joked: “I said, ‘if I wished you good luck I would be lying’. No, I do, obviously.
“From a personal point of view, I’d be happy if they go out at the group stage, but it’s possible they could go on to win it as well.
“Good luck, come back healthy. Those were pretty much my words. Now we have to deal with it and we will deal with it. I’m pretty positive we will find a way, but we have to show that on the pitch.”
Salah, in particular, will be a huge miss for Liverpool after scoring 18 goals in 27 appearances across all competitions this season. That tally is at least twice as many as any other Liverpool player has managed, with Diogo Jota scoring nine.
Trivela assists from @MOSALAH 😍 PIC.TWITTER.COM/8WRSKFL2VD
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) JANUARY 4, 2024
The winger has appeared in all but two of Liverpool’s fixtures this season, missing a 3-1 EFL Cup win over Leicester City and a 2-1 defeat to Union Saint-Gilloise in the UEFA Europa League.
Asked whether Liverpool had worked on playing without Salah, Klopp said: “Not a lot. We have different offensive options who can play on that wing.
“Nobody else who plays on that wing should play like Mo, it’s not possible. We have to use the boys and play to their skills, that’s the idea.
“Do we want to play without Mo? No, and in the past we didn’t have to do that often, but we always found a way to get through these periods.
“Against Arsenal you can lose with Mo Salah, so of course you can lose without him, but at the moment we have a chance to win the game so I think we should focus on that.”
Salah and Endo will not be Liverpool’s only absentees on Sunday, with Dominik Szoboszlai sidelined by a hamstring injury which will also keep him out of Wednesday’s first leg against Fulham.
“It’s his hamstring,” Klopp said. “Now we have to see. Dom is very positive, he doesn’t have a lot of pain but now we have to wait a little bit.
“There’s no chance, obviously, for tomorrow. Not for Wednesday. After that, we will see, hopefully he might be back.”
Dominik Szoboszlai is set to miss at least the next two matches, confirmed Jürgen Klopp:
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) January 5, 2024
