There may be no Premier League football this week, but two Liverpool aces will be in action as their sides seek to progress to the quarter finals of the Africa Cup of Nations.
Sadio Mane’s Senegal are set to take on Cape Verde in Kouekong this afternoon whilst Reds top scorer Mohamed Salah will see his Egypt side face Ivory Coast tomorrow.
Jurgen Klopp’s “hand on heart” hopes that one of his players goes all the way in the competition now rest with his star attackers after Naby Keita’s Guinea were eliminated yesterday.
Keita had picked up a string of man of the match awards after some impressive performances in the group stage, but bookings against Senegal and Zimbabwe meant that the 26-year-old was forced to watch on as his side were dumped out of contest by Gambia.
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The Guinea captain is not the only Merseyside player to see his dreams of AFCON glory cut short, with Everton’s Alex Iwobi earning a red card in a five-minute cameo as his Nigeria side were beaten by Tunisia yesterday.
Senegal boss Aliou Cissé will be hopeful that his team don’t suffer the same fate as they prepare for their clash with Rui Aguas’ Cape Verde this afternoon.
The Lions are unbeaten heading into the tie, with Mane’s late penalty securing victory against Zimbabwe before goalless draws with Guinea and Malawi.
Cape Verde, meanwhile, tasted defeat against Burkina Faso but a win over Ethiopia and a 1-1 stalemate with hosts Cameroon was enough to see them progress to the last 16.
Senegal are clear favourites heading into the match, with the side yet to concede in this year’s competition.
The Lions sit 53 places above their opposition in the FIFA world rankings, however Mane’s side – which also stars former Everton man Idrissa Gueye – will be hoping for more creativity as they look to score their first goal from open play in this year’s tournament.
Senegal may be boosted by the knowledge that Cape Verde have never won a game in the AFCON knockout stages as the Lions seek to go one step further than their second-place finish in 2019.
2019 hosts Egypt were eliminated at this stage of the contest last time out however Salah’s side will be hoping for a different outcome when they take on Ivory Coast tomorrow.
Liverpool’s talisman was quiet in Egypt’s defeat to Nigeria, but his goal helped his team topple Guinea-Bissau before the Pharaohs beat Sudan in their final game of the group stage.
Carlos Queiroz’s men will need to be at their best to defeat the unbeaten Ivory coast, whose roster of stars include Palace’s Wifried Zaha, Arsenal’s Nicolas Pepe and West Ham reject Sebastien Haller.
Haller has been in fine goal-scoring form for club side Ajax this season and has continued to impress for his national team in this year’s group stage.
2015 winners Ivory Coast are amongst the tournament’s highest scorers heading into the last-16 and Egypt will hoping that captain Salah can replicate his domestic goalscoring prowess to help them through to this weekend’s quarter finals.
Egypt are the most successful nation in AFCON’s history, winning the tournament seven times, however the Pharaohs haven’t got their hands on the trophy since 2010.
The victor of tomorrow’s match will face off with either Morocco or Malawi in Cameroon on Sunday.
It was announced on Saturday that Egypt and Senegal will go head-to-head in March’s World Cup qualifiers, meaning that only one of either Mane or Salah will be representing their country in Qatar come November.
With that in mind, Liverpool’s star men will both be hoping that they’re heading into that clash with an AFCON winner’s medal to their name.
Senegal v Cape Verde will be broadcast on Sky Sports at 4pm GMT on Tuesday 25 th January 2022, whilst Ivory Coast v Egypt will be available on the BBC Red Button from 3:50pm GMT on Wednesday 26 th January.
