Liverpool's record with and without Mohamed Salah

Jurgen Klopp joked that he sent Mohamed Salah off to the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations with a farewell message of: "If I wish you good luck it would be a lie."

Yet, there must have been a grain of truth behind Klopp's teasing. Salah could miss eight Liverpool games if Egypt replicate their continental performance of two years ago and reach the AFCON final.

At 31, Salah remains startlingly prolific, signing off the first half of his club season with a brace against Newcastle United. Liverpool's perennial top scorer is averaging a goal or assist every 79 top-flight minutes this term.

Here's how Liverpool have fared when Klopp has been forced to do without Salah in the past.

Liverpool's record with Mohamed Salah

Across six-and-a-half seasons at Liverpool, Salah has played in more than 90% of all the club's available fixtures. No wonder Klopp frequently hails the workaholic winger as a "machine".

With Salah in the team, Liverpool have won every trophy possible, including the club's first league title in three decades. The unrelenting stream of goals Salah offers has underpinned this historic success.

This season, Salah became just the fifth player in Liverpool's illustrious history to have scored 200 goals on Merseyside.

After his farewell display against Newcastle, Klopp shrugged: "Nobody should be really surprised that Mo can change a game or can improve in a game because he's done it hundreds of times." 204 times to be precise.

Salah's teammates are also quick to acknowledge his greatness.

"His scoring record is incredible!" Diogo Jota gushed towards the end of last season. "He always finds a way to score. He just finds a way every single time and that is why he is so important."

Liverpool's record without Mohamed Salah

On top of his unerring potency in front of goal, one of Salah's greatest strengths is his durability. Since joining Liverpool in 2017, Salah has missed precisely three club games through injury. The Reds haven't lost any of them.

Salah's first injury of his Liverpool career came at the most inopportune moment. Trailing Barcelona by three goals after losing the first leg of their 2019 Champions League semi-final in Spain, Liverpool had to attempt the impossible without their talisman, who was "desperate" to play but sidelined with concussion. Georginio Wijnaldum and Divock Origi left Barcelona dizzy with a legendary 4-0 win at Anfield.

A rare ankle injury ensured that Salah missed out on Liverpool's 1-1 league draw with Manchester United in 2019 while a case of COVID kept him away from a 3-0 victory over Leicester City the following year.

AFCON 2019 was held during the European summer but when the tournament was moved back to January in 2022, Salah missed five Liverpool matches. Sadio Mane was also absent with Senegal - and would score the decisive penalty to defeat Salah's Egypt in the shootout of that year's final - but Liverpool ploughed on unfazed.

Klopp's side scored 12 goals across those five games, only failing to win the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final at home to Arsenal. Liverpool made up for that goalless draw by brushing the Gunners aside in a 2-0 victory at the Emirates.

Liverpool's record with and without Mohamed Salah

While Liverpool's record without Salah looks better on paper, context has to be taken into consideration. Almost half of the matches Salah has sat out for the Reds have been in the early rounds of England's domestic cup competitions, often against clubs below the Premier League.

Liverpool's success with Salah in the team should also be put into perspective. Among every player to have made at least 200 appearances for Liverpool (more than a century of names), Salah boasts the seventh-highest win percentage (per Opta).

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