Liverpool‘s African contingent of Mo Salah, Sadio Mane, and Naby Keita will be permitted to play in the club’s upcoming crucial match against Chelsea on January 2nd. CAF allowed domestic divisions to release their relevant players for the AFCON in January on the 3rd of the month, according to Rob Harris of the Associated Press.
The Reds will be without their vital trio for both legs of a league cup semi-final against Arsenal, as well as an FA Cup fixture with Shrewsbury Town and two league matches against Brentford and Crystal Palace.
The Decision that boosts Liverpool
It’s a decision that will assist the Blues as well, as Senegalese No. 1 Edouard Mendy will be available for our next English Premier League match at the start of January. FIFA deputy secretary general Mattias Grafstrom confirmed the news in a letter:
“CAF has decided that for those players who have official club matches between the 27 December 2021 and 3 January 2022, the participating member associations in question are to be directed that these players may remain with their clubs to participate in these matches and be released after the last match during this period.”
As a result, the Reds trio will miss the FA Cup third round, Carabao Cup semi-final, and Premier League matches against Brentford and Crystal Palace at home and away, respectively. However, the postponed match against Leeds will be rescheduled and could take place during the AFCON.
It’ll be difficult to deal with the rest of the month’s problems without the three, but we’re hoping that our backup choices will step up, as they have in the past.
