Mohamed Salah (£12.5m) made a much earlier-than-anticipated exit from the Africa Cup of Nations on Saturday evening after Egypt were defeated 1-0 by South Africa.
The shock result means that Salah and his country have bowed out of the tournament over two weeks before it is due to finish.
Bafana Bafana’s victory could have repercussions in Fantasy Premier League, with Salah’s summer international obligations coming to an end before those of teammates Sadio Mane (£11.5m) and Roberto Firmino (£9.5m).
With the Africa Cup of Nations final taking place exactly three weeks before Gameweek 1 kicks off, we had previously expressed concern that Salah and/or Mane could be doubts for the 2019/20 curtain-raiser between Liverpool and Norwich City in August.
Last year, Dejan Lovren (£5.5m) and Jordan Henderson (£5.5m) were handed three weeks off after their exertions with Croatia and England at the World Cup.
Klopp is, indeed, expected to give Firmino and Alisson (£6.0m) the same amount of time to recover after their run to the final in the Copa America.
Salah’s premature departure from the Africa Cup of Nations, however, has effectively killed any concern that he won’t be ready for Gameweek 1 – barring any further injuries, of course.
Egypt 0-1 South Africa
Saturday’s result was an unanticipated outcome: Egypt were not only the host nation of the competition but also the pre-tournament favourites with the bookmakers and made it to the final in 2017.
Egypt went into the weekend with a 100% record in this year’s tournament, while South Africa had lost two of their three group matches and only qualified for the knockout stages as one of the best third-place teams.
Salah had been a doubt for this last-16 tie with a cold but recovered to line up, as he so often does, on the right flank.
The Liverpool winger looked below-par and didn’t have much influence on proceedings, however, with South Africa full-back Sifiso Hlanti proving more than a match for the premium FPL midfielder.
Salah started brightly and fizzed an early effort wide via a deflection but struggled to make an impression beyond that, save for one superb pass through to Mahmoud Trezeguet that the Egypt attacker should have converted.
Trezeguet had missed another chance that Salah had teed up earlier in the game, while the Liverpool man himself had two other blocked shots and drilled wide from a long-range free-kick.
Ahmed El Mohamady (£4.5m) and Mohamed Elneny (£4.5m) both started the game for Egypt, with the Aston Villa right-back completing the game and Elneny substituted with seven minutes to go.
Both of those two players will also now return to their respective Premier League clubs.
For what it’s worth, Percy Tau had an excellent match – the Brighton and Hove Albion attacker has not been able to get a work permit since his move to the Amex but a strong showing from South Africa this summer could change all that.
Uganda 0-1 Senegal
While Salah’s Africa Cup of Nations has come to an end, Mane and Senegal have progressed to the tournament quarter-finals after edging past Uganda on Friday.
It will be interesting to see just how far Mane goes with the Lions of Teranga, given the concerns we outlined above about Liverpool assets being handed three-week breaks following their international efforts this summer.
Senegal next face Benin on Wednesday, with their opponents being one of the lowest-ranked teams left in the competition.
Mane’s nation, meanwhile, are now as short as 8/5 with some bookmakers to win the tournament following Egypt’s exit.
The former Southampton winger was again in the thick of the action, scoring his side’s winner after 15 minutes before missing from the spot for the second time in this tournament.
Mane broke the deadlock when racing through to finish M’Baye Niang’s pass but, having missed from 12 yards against Kenya last week, then saw a second-half spot-kick saved after he himself was felled by opposition goalkeeper Denis Onyango.
Mane and Senegal can occasionally look dangerous going forward but this was a match low on goalscoring opportunities, with Senegal having just five shots in total.
The premium FPL midfielder was again deployed on the left wing and lasted the whole 90 minutes.
Budget midfield pair Cheikhou Kouyate and Idrissa Gana Gueye (both £5.0m) also played the full game.
Morocco 1-1 Benin (1-4 Penalties)
Nigeria 3-2 Cameroon
Wolves’ Romain Saiss (£4.5m) played the full 120 minutes as Morocco bowed out of the Africa Cup of Nations after a penalty shootout defeat on Friday.
Saiss impressed in defence as Morocco bossed the possession and chances but his country were unable to break down a stubborn Benin side who triumphed on penalties after playing the last 25 minutes of extra-time with only ten men.
Alex Iwobi (£6.0m) was on the scoresheet in the other round-of-16 tie to take place on Sunday as Nigeria edged past defending champions Cameroon in a five-goal thriller.
The lively Arsenal winger scored the game’s winner on 66 minutes, charging through to finish low past Andre Onana after being slipped through by Odion Ighalo.
Wilfred Ndidi (£5.0m) played the whole 90 minutes in midfield while Brighton’s Leon Balogun (£4.5m) replaced Iwobi in stoppage time.
We’ll bring you up to speed on the other Africa Cup of Nations games and the finals of the Copa America and Gold Cup in the coming days, as well as revealing the latest on Alexis Sanchez‘s (£7.0m) injury after the Manchester United winger was substituted in his country’s 2-1 defeat to Argentina on Saturday.
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