Cody Gakpo is very confident Liverpool will continue to strive without their talisman Mohamed Salah when he flies off to take part in the Africa Cup of Nations with Egypt. Salah will feature against Newcastle on New Year’s Day before departing on international duty.
If Egypt make it to the final of the Africa Cup of Nations, Jurgen Klopp could be without his star player for eight matches – including the FA Cup and Premier League encounters away at title rivals Arsenal, as well as the Carabao Cup semi-final fixture with Fulham.
Salah has once again proved Liverpool’s most lethal player this season, having already netted 12 times and created seven assists in 19 Premier League matches, inspiring the Reds to the top of the table at least for now.
However, Gakpo, who shone in the 2-0 win over Burnley, believes Liverpool will have more than enough firepower to fill the void left by Salah. The Dutch forward has credited both Darwin Nunez and the returning Diogo Jota when reassuring supporters.
A fine finish from outside the box from Nunez and a late Jota strike sealed the three points for Liverpool at Turf Moor, and after the final whistle, Gakpo spoke of his delight at the front line all chipping in.
The 24-year-old former PSV star said about Nunez and Jota getting on the scoresheet: “For every attacking player who didn’t score for a few games, it’s always nice to get back on the scoresheet and Darwin did that with a very good goal.
“For Diogo as well, when you’re injured and you come back and score, that’s always nice and good for the confidence. So I’m really happy. Mo is gone after the Newcastle game so we need the goals.”
The win over struggling Burnley has temporarily put Klopp’s side two points clear at the top of the standings, before Arsenal host London rivals West Ham at the Emirates Stadium on Thursday night. It’s a welcome turnaround following last term’s disappointment of missing out on the Champions League.
But Gakpo has made it clear that no one at Liverpool is thinking about the title just yet, reaffirming what his boss said post-Burnley. “The table’s not looking in a bad place, but we have to take it one game at a time,” he added.
“We mustn’t let our heads go everywhere all over the place, we must stay focused and keep doing what we’re doing now and even improve more.”
