Salah has arguably been the best player in the Premier League during the first half of the season. The 31-year-old has delivered 14 goals and eight assists in 20 Premier League games for Liverpool, as well as netting three times in the Europa League.
The Egyptian's exceptional form has propelled Liverpool to the top of the Premier League table. With him joint-top of the league's scoring charts this term, Liverpool would hardly want to lose Salah for any amount of time, but Jurgen Klopp will have to come up with a winning formula without his star winger in order to maintain that position over the coming weeks as he takes part in the Africa Cup of Nations with Egypt.
The club confirmed of his anticipated absence in an official statement on Friday that Salah will not feature in the FA Cup third round game at Arsenal on January 7.
The statement read: "Mohamed Salah will link up with Egypt for the Africa Cup of Nations following Liverpool's clash with Newcastle United.
"The Reds play their first game of 2024 when they host the Magpies at Anfield on Monday night. Salah is available to feature in that fixture, before he joins up with his nation for the latest edition of AFCON, to be held in the Ivory Coast."
How many games will Mohamed Salah miss?
The number of Liverpool games that Salah will miss will depend on how well Egypt performs in the competition.
The African Cup of Nations (AFCON) is scheduled to get underway in Ivory Coast on January 14, with Egypt opening their Group B campaign against Mozambique on the same day. Their second group game is against Ghana on January 18, followed by a date with Cape Verde on January 22.
That means the talismanic winger is guaranteed to miss at least three Liverpool matches and could possibly return for their EFL Cup semi-final second-leg against Fulham on Wednesday, January 24, but he will likely miss a lot more than that.
| Date | Fixture | Competition |
|---|---|---|
| January 7 | Arsenal (A) | FA Cup |
| January 10 | Fulham (H) | Carabao Cup |
| January 21 | Bournemouth (A) | Premier League |
| January 24 | Fulham (A) | Carabao Cup |
| TBC | Potential FA Cup fourth round tie | FA Cup |
| January 31 | Chelsea (H) | Premier League |
| February 4 | Arsenal (A) | Premier League |
| February 10 | Burnley (H) | Premier League |
Given the three-time AFCON winners have not failed to qualify for the knockout stage since 2003/04, you would imagine that Salah will help fire them past the group stages, and their last 16 encounter will be played on either January 28 or 29, depending on where they finish in Group B.
Should Egypt be eliminated at the round of 16 stage in the Africa Cup of Nations, Salah will be absent for the Reds' EFL Cup semi-final second-leg against Fulham, a potential FA Cup fourth-round tie, and possibly Liverpool's Premier League encounter against Chelsea.
In the event of Egypt's elimination at the quarter-finals, which will be played on February 2 and 3, Salah would likely be unavailable for Liverpool's crucial away match against title-rivals Arsenal in the Premier League.
If Egypt are eliminated in the semi-finals on February 7, Salah will miss Liverpool's clash against Burnley at Anfield on February 10, as he will take part in the third-place play-off on the same day.
If Salah's Egypt make it to the AFCON final, which will be held on February 11 at the Olympic Stadium of Ebimpe, that would rule the Liverpool forward out for up to eight games for the Merseyside outfit.