With the Asian Cup and AFCON now completed, all the top Premier League clubs can resume battle with all their star players from the two continents now free to represent their clubs for the remainder of the English season.
Liverpool were one side who would have been particularly worried about how they would cope without important players. The loss of Mohamed Salah would have been a blow for Jurgen Klopp. But except for the defeat to Arsenal, Liverpool have successfully negotiated the Egyptian star’s period away from the club.
In a further dent to Liverpool’s chances, Salah picked up an injury at AFCON. His Egypt team was eliminated at the Round of 16 on January 28th. But the player still missed vital matches for his club, including the defeat to Arsenal.
Liverpool still in the running to win the Premier League
After AFCON, Liverpool was still top of the table, and, according to the bookmakers, still in with a great chance of winning the Premier League. Manchester City is the -175 favorite, but Liverpool is second in the latest Premier League winner odds at +260.
If offered that position before the start of the AFCON tournament, the chances are Klopp would have taken it. And with his squad now back together, the Liverpool boss can plan his title run-in from a position of strength.
How did Liverpool cope without Salah?
The main reason for this is the performances of Diogo Jota. Since AFCON started on January 13th, Jota scored four Premier League goals and one in the FA Cup. The Portuguese striker has been in excellent form for Liverpool, and with the possible exception of the Arsenal defeat, Jota ensured that Salah wasn’t badly missed.
🚨 𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚: Egypt 🇪🇬 confirm that Mo Salah has returned to Liverpool to recover from the injury sustained at the AFCON and won’t return until at least a possible semi-final 🤕 pic.twitter.com/KFej4D6Vop
— 433 (@433) January 21, 2024
Jota was in good form for Liverpool before the start of AFCON. He wasn’t even fit for the first part of the season, only playing a bit part role. But in that time, he still managed five goals and four assists. And that includes missing five matches in the run-up to the Christmas holiday fixtures.
Further obstacles to Liverpool’s challenge
With this being Jurgen Klopp’s final season at the club, Liverpool will be especially keen to give the popular German the send-off he deserves. But will they have enough to win the 2023/24 Premier League title?
This, and previous Klopp teams, have been good enough to win the league many times over. But the biggest obstacle to any team winning the title in the current Premier League era is Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City team.
They are just a winning machine. And in some cases, it doesn’t matter what their opponents do, as when City hit the afterburners in the new year, there is sometimes just no stopping them.
Positives for Liverpool
Throwing a further spanner in the works this season could be Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal team. The Gunners looked down and out of the title race at the turn of the year, but have since hit a run of good form that has seen them make it a three-way fight.
Could Arsenal’s presence create a distraction for City and allow Liverpool to sneak in and clinch the title? And it’s not just Arsenal. As long as Manchester City of defending the Champions League they won last year, they will be focusing on that. And that could also open the door for Klopp’s team.
