I hope Egypt lose but Liverpool will deal with losing Mohamed Salah again for four reasons
Mark Lawrenson hopes that Egypt fail to progress from the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) group stage so that Mohamed Salah can return to Liverpool sooner than expected.
Next month Jurgen Klopp faces losing his leading goalscorer for as many as seven matches as he goes away to compete in African football's showpiece tournament.
They would be against Fulham (EFL Cup semi-final first leg), Bournemouth, Fulham (EFL Cup semi-final second leg), Chelsea, Arsenal and Burnley. A seventh match would be on the schedule should the club reach the FA Cup fourth round, to be played on the final weekend of January.
No doubt Salah would personally wish to do one better than last time in this iteration of the AFCON tournament, which takes place between January 13 and February 11. His Egypt team were left devastated by former team-mate Sadio Mane and Senegal in the final of the previous tournament two years ago.
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However, whilst wishing all the success in the world to the Reds' No.11 whilst with his national team, Lawrenson's ruthless streak shows he hopes the Pharaohs make a shock group stage exit so that Salah would miss only three matches. The former Liverpool defender told Paddy Power: "Not to be disparaging, but I hope Egypt lose the first few games and he comes back!"
In Group B Egypt will face Cape Verde, Ghana and Mozambique - the Ghanaians being the only nation other than Salah's in that quartet to have won AFCON before. As the top two qualify, it seems likely Salah would make the group stage bar a major shock.
Put plainly, the reason Salah's absence
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