Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah and Wataru Endō are set to miss some games due to the African Cup of Nations and Asian Cup. The Reds recently bagged three points at Burnley, with goals from Darwin Núñez and Diogo Jota.
Despite a slip-up that almost brought the game level, Endō put in another strong performance. Jürgen Klopp praised the Japanese star, but admitted his good form comes at a bad time with the Asian Cup just around the corner.
Salah has been on fire for Liverpool, netting 16 goals in 26 matches. He’ll head to the Ivory Coast hoping Liverpool remains in the Premier League title race when he returns.
AFCON kicks off in the Ivory Coast on Saturday, January 13 when the hosts take on Guinea-Bissau. It’s only the second time the country has hosted the finals.
Egypt, with a record seven wins, is in action on the opening weekend as it starts its journey to add another trophy to the collection. They’re in Group B with Ghana, Cape Verde and Mozambique. The knockout stages kick off on February 2.
Here are the key dates for AFCON:
Group stages start: January 13
Group stages end: January 24
Second round fixtures: January 27 to January 30
Quarter-finals: February 2 to February 3
Semi-finals: February 7
Third-place playoff: February 10
Final: February 11
Meanwhile, Japan is hoping to improve on its last Asian Cup performance when it finished as runner-up. The tournament starts on Friday, January 12 and ends on Saturday, February 10. Japan is in Group D with Indonesia, Iraq and Vietnam.
Here are the key dates for the Asian Cup:
Group stages start: January 12
Group stages end: January 25
Round of 16: January 28 to January 31
Quarter-finals: February 2 to February 3
Semi-finals: February 6 to February 7
Final: February 10
These are the matches that Salah and Endō could miss:
Arsenal (Away – FA Cup) – January 7
Fulham (Home – Carabao Cup) – January 10
Bournemouth (Away – Premier League) – January 21
Fulham (Away – Carabao Cup) – January 24
Chelsea (Home – Premier League) – January 31
Arsenal (Away – Premier League) – February 4
Burnley (Home – Premier League) – February 10
Liverpool will be playing Brentford on February 17 at 12:30pm. Fans are hoping that both Endō and Salah, if they make it to the final with their countries, will be able to play in this match.
