Mohamed Salah among full list of Premier League players in AFCON and Asian Cup
Mohamed Salah heads the list of mid-season absentees as bosses keep their collective fingers crossed for their stars' safe return.
The Egyptian heads off to the Ivory Coast this week to compete in the Africa Cup of Nations - a competition which could see him miss up to SEVEN games for Liverpool. Jurgen Klopp's side are currently three points clear at the top of the Premier League table.
If his country is successful, the Premier League's joint leading scorer won’t return to play for the Reds until an away fixture at Brentford in mid-February as his boss contemplates reaching the Carabao Cup final and progressing in the FA Cup without him.
The hole left in Liverpool's frontline may turn out to be not as big if Egypt do not progress beyond the group stages as there are only two more top-flight fixtures for the current league leaders to play this month. The AFCON final is pencilled in for February 11.
The situation for many clubs is compounded as the Asia Cup is taking place at the same time. Along with Liverpool, Tottenham are another who will be hit hard as captain Son Heung-min is set to link up with South Korea.
The striker is only two behind Salah in the goalscoring charts and with a continuing injury to James Maddison, the loss of a forward who has already found the net a dozen times this season will be keenly felt.
And while boss Ange Postecoglou appears to take most things in his stride, even he will have grimaced at the news that Pape Sarr and Yves Bissouma will also be missing as they join Senegal and Mali for their shot at glory.
In terms of numbers, Nottingham Forest will be hardest hit. In all, new boss Nuno Espirito Santo will lose six players from what is an extensive cast list at the City Ground. Three are
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