Steve Nicol has claimed that Liverpool won’t win the Premier League this season if one of their current absentees is ruled out for a prolonged period.
On Thursday night, the Reds were rocked by the sight of Mo Salah going off injured during Egypt’s 2-2 draw against Ghana at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), and his country’s FA have since indicated that he’s set to miss their next couple of games.
Speaking on ESPN FC in light of that update, Nicol stated his belief that his former club’s title hopes could rest on how quickly the 31-year-old returns to action.
The Scot said: “If Liverpool can cope throughout this tournament without him until he comes back and they win the Premier League, great, but Liverpool don’t win the Premier League if Mo Salah can’t play.
“I think they can make up for his not being available with what they’ve got, but I don’t think they can do it between now and the end of the season. This is absolutely huge.”
It looks as if Salah won’t be sidelined for any great length of time if the Egyptian FA have confirmed that he’ll definitely miss two games, but for now we can only wait until such time that he gets the green light to resume playing.
Him being ruled out for several weeks after AFCON would obviously make it a lot harder for Liverpool to maintain their current position as Premier League leaders, but the Reds are top of the pile despite having to contend with injuries to numerous key players already this season.
Hopefully we can make it through the Egyptian’s absence still in first place, and once we get him back, our hand will be strengthened significantly.
You can view Nicol’s comments below, via ESPN UK on YouTube:
Come on now. Give the boys and Jurgen some credit.