Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah has shown off his new haircut on social media as he jets off to captain Egypt at the African Cup of Nations.
The Reds winger reminded the Merseyside faithful of what they will be missing out on for the next few weeks when scoring against Chelsea on Sunday.
The 29-year-old received the ball on the right-wing before cutting in and lofting a neat finish over the head of Blues shot-stopper Edouard Mendy at the front post to make it 2-0 to Jurgen Klopp’s side – however, the match finished 2-2.
With 16 goals and nine assists in 20 Premier League appearances, Salah’s short term departure could pose serious issues for the Anfield outfit.
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(Image: @MoSalah/Twitter)
The former Chelsea star has now left the Reds squad to link up with his teammates and has shared a photo on Twitter of himself and Aston Villa forward Mahmoud Trezeguet.
Salah was sporting a new look in the image, with his beard trimmed significantly and his hair also looking more contained and shorter on the sides, potentially indicating that the winger is preparing for an extended amount of time away from his barber.
Egypt kicks off their AFCON campaign on the 11th of January when they take on Nigeria, they will then play Guinea-Bissau before finishing the group game with a fixture against Sudan.
Salah’s side, which also includes Arsenal ’s Mohamed Elneny, have a good chance in the tournament and will be hoping that they can progress through all the way to the final, which takes place on the 6th of February.
Liverpool will also be without Sadio Mane, representing Senegal, and Naby Keita, of Guinea, for the remainder of the month which could leave Klopp’s side relying on Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino to carry the goalscoring weight until the aforementioned players return.
On the surface, it would be easy to claim that it will be in the attacking department that Liverpool will suffer as a result of their AFCON absentees.
However, Keita being away could pose just as great an issue due to the poor form of Klopp’s current crop of midfielders.
The trio of Jordan Henderson, Fabinho and James Milner were torn apart by Chelsea’s two-man midfield of Mateo Kovacic and N’Golo Kante at the weekend and highlighted that this could be the Reds’ weakest are of the pitch.
Speaking after the 2-2 draw, Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher highlighted the issue, he said: “It does feel at times this season where Liverpool are really on the edge of it being too much. Now, whether that’s because the midfield this season are not getting enough pressure on the ball, because I think midfield has been a problem for Liverpool this season.”
The Reds hero then continued: “The line is still the same but they’re not getting that pressure in midfield on the ball. But if you’re not getting that pressure you’ve got to drop at times.
“It’s not, ‘we can’t play high,’ but there are certain situations where Liverpool’s back four have to go back five yards. It happened [in the 3-2 defeat] at West Ham and cost them the game there.”
It remains to be seen how Liverpool cope without Salah, Mane and Keita and whether they will be able to continue to track league leaders Manchester City for the month, or whether their title charge will derail without some of their star performers.
Mohamed Salah shows off new look as Liverpool star heads to AFCON
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