Klopp Expresses Desire for Egypt’s Early Exit in AFCON 2023

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Jürgen Klopp has expressed his wish for both Egypt and Japan to be eliminated in the group stages of AFCON 2023 and the Asian Cup, respectively.

This desire stems from the potential prolonged absence of Mohamed Salah and Wataru Endo, who are crucial players for Liverpool, should their national teams progress in the tournaments.

Salah is representing Egypt in Ivory Coast, while Endo is participating in the Asian Cup in Qatar. Klopp hopes for early exits to ensure the timely return of these players to Liverpool.

Regarding the absence of Salah and Endo, Klopp mentioned that he bid them farewell this week without offering them excessive well-wishes for success in their respective tournaments.

“I said if I wish you good luck it would be a lie,” Klopp said ahead of Liverpool’s FA Cup third-round tie at Arsenal on Sunday.

“From a personal point of view, I would be happy if they go out in the group stage but that’s probably not possible. They can go on and win it.

“So it was ‘Good luck and come back healthy’. We have to deal with it and we will deal with it. I am pretty positive that we will find a way.”

Klopp currently lacks a direct substitute for Salah, who occupies the right flank of the attack and has notched up 18 goals across all competitions this season.

Although midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai was considered as a potential replacement, he is sidelined for a minimum of two matches due to a hamstring injury suffered in the recent victory over Newcastle on New Year’s Day.

Despite this setback, Klopp, leading the Premier League table, remains optimistic about Liverpool’s ability to cover the absence of Salah.

“I think we played against West Ham (in last month’s League Cup quarter-final) without Mo on that side and Harvey Elliott played there,” he said.

“We have different offensive options who can all play that wing in a different way. Nobody else can play like Mo, it is not possible — we just have to use the boys with their skills.

“Do we want to play without Mo? No. In the past we didn’t have to do it often but we always found a way.

“But we play Arsenal and you can lose to Arsenal with Mo Salah so it’s possible to lose to them without him.”

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