Mohamed Salah looks set to miss a number of Premier League matches for Liverpool next winter

Mohamed Salah could miss 10 Liverpool matches after controversial FIFA decision

Mohamed Salah might have signed a new two-year contract with Liverpool, committing his future to the Reds until 2027, but Arne Slot will still need to find a replacement for the Egyptian at one point next season.

The 32-year-old has been the standout player in the Premier League for the majority of the current campaign, and leads both the Golden Boot and Playmaker charts with 27 goals and 18 assists from 32 appearances in the English top-flight.

The forward recorded his 45th goal contribution of the Premier League season last time out, setting up Luis Diaz to open the scoring at home to West Ham United, a new record for a 38-game campaign.

While Erling Haaland’s record haul of 36 goals in a Premier League season is likely to be out of reach for Salah with six games remaining, he needs only two assists to equal Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne’s joint-record for a single campaign. Meanwhile, he is well on course to win the Golden Boot for a joint-record fourth time.

Slot has already shared his belief that the forward will maintain such levels into next season and beyond after signing a new contract with Liverpool.

Mohamed Salah could miss 10 Liverpool matches after controversial FIFA decision

Salah has also been an ever-present in the Premier League this year, starting all 32 of their matches and only failing to feature for more than 80 minutes once. He also started all but one of the Reds’ 10 Champions League matches, as well as the League Cup final and both legs of the corresponding semi-final.

Consequently, the likes of Federico Chiesa and Harvey Elliott have been starved of game-time while left on the fringes of Slot’s squad with Salah’s importance and impact crystal clear.

But the forward will not be able to replicate such returns next season for reasons beyond his control, with the Liverpool head coach in need of a replacement for the 32-year-old ahead of the January transfer window as a result.

That’s because the Africa Cup of Nations takes place in the middle of next season, having been pushed back from the summer of 2025 due to the inaugural edition of FIFA’s controversial expanded Club World Cup taking place in the United States in June and July.

AFCON’s scheduling had also been further complicated by the addition of two extra match days in the Champions League at the end of January.

While in the past AFCON has taken place in January and February when scheduled mid-season, the latest edition will get underway on December 21 in Morocco and run until January 18.

Previously, this has resulted in African players missing minimal Premier League matches with much of January made up of domestic cup action. But the scheduling of the competition means players will miss the entire Premier League festive period.

Salah is set to captain Egypt at next season’s tournament, with the Pharaohs already aware of their group-stage opponents. Drawn in Group B, they will open their campaign against Zimbabwe on December 22 before taking on South Africa on Boxing Day. They will then face Angola in their final group game on December 29.

The round-of-16 is scheduled to take place between January 3-6 with the quarter-finals following on January 9-10. Both semi-finals will take place on January 14 ahead of the third place play-off on January 17, with the final then taking place in Rabat on January 18.

The 2025/26 Premier League season is due to get underway starting on Saturday 16 August, with the final match round played on Sunday 24 May 2026. It has already been confirmed there will be no fixture on Christmas Eve.

But beyond that, the fixture schedule has not been publicised with it not becoming fully clear how many matches participating players will miss until Premier League fixture release day on Wednesday 18 June.

However, using this season’s schedule as a template, AFCON would have overlapped with eight Liverpool matches – including six Premier League games.

This is in contrast to the 2023 edition of AFCON, which was scheduled between January 13 and February 11. During the tournament the Reds played seven times, with only four of them being Premier League matches.

And with Egypt having been eliminated in the round-of-16 on January 28, Salah would have actually only sat out one Premier League match if not for a hamstring injury that ruled him out until mid-March.

However, he also missed Liverpool’s League Cup semi-final first leg on January 10, 2024 against Fulham ahead of the tournament.

Again using this season’s schedule as a template, it is possible that AFCON could rule a player out of up to as many as 10 Liverpool matches, including the preceding fixture (in this instance it would have been the League Cup quarter-final away at Southampton December 18).

As well as six Premier League fixtures, participating players could also miss the seventh Champions League league match, scheduled for January 20-21, 2026, should their nation reach the AFCON final.

And while there is no guarantee that Liverpool will be competing in the League Cup semi-finals for the third year running, the FA Cup third round will fall during AFCON’s duration.

Salah is usually rested for such fixtures regardless. But it is clear AFCON’s scheduling will ensure that participating players will be absent for more Premier League matches than ever before with at least three gameweeks likely to coincide with the continental tournament’s group-stages alone.

Mohamed Salah could miss 10 Liverpool matches after controversial FIFA decision

Liverpool will have to make do without their talisman at a vital moment in their Premier League campaign as a result, with Slot needing an alternative. Considering the Egyptian’s ever-present status this season, it will be an unprecedented situation for the Dutchman as he goes from one extreme to the other.

From the Reds current attacking ranks, Chiesa, Elliott or Luis Diaz could fill the void yet all three, along with Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota, have been linked with summer exits.

With both Elliott and Chiesa yet to make a Premier League start under Slot, AFCON could ensure it is a different story next season if they end up staying put at Anfield this summer.

But should they move on, with Liverpool already expected to be in the market for a new centre-forward at least this summer, the Reds could well be in need of another new forward even though they have secured Salah’s future for another two years.