Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has hinted there could be a change in the system following the absence of Mohamed Salah and has urged his side to be ‘creative’.
Salah netted a brace in Monday night’s 4-2 win over Newcastle as the Reds stretched their lead at the top of the Premier League table.
The 31-year-old is now bound for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, which kicks off on January 13 and runs through to February 11.
He is expected to miss seven games and potentially an FA Cup third-round replay, should it be needed, against Arsenal. Mohamed Salah has scored 18 goals across all competitions for Liverpool this term.
“How can we do that? The special thing about Mo is he can play all the time,” Klopp said.
“In the games I rotated him Mo was probably in the physical state to start the game but I think it makes sense from time to time not going through all of the brick walls.
“Now, we have to see. We have different options and we can change the system. When Mo is playing it makes sense that we play a specific way so that he can be in his favourite position, he deserves that and he helps us there the most.
“But when he’s not there we have to be creative and maybe we will be. I don’t know what surprises you after all these years but maybe it will! Not for the sake of it, but maybe. Let’s see.”
The German added: “I understand all these needs and stuff like this but there must be someone above it all [who makes this decision].
“Thankfully now it was really nice to see Fab (Fabinho) and Bobby (Roberto Firmino) back in the stadium [on Monday] and you think: ‘You need a winter break in Saudi Arabia?’ But then you remember it’s for the AFCON so they stopped the league. It makes sense.
“Could we stop the league because of the AFCON? No, probably not, where would we fit the games in? Could we play it in the summer? Don’t ask me, I have not been to Africa too often that I can tell where they can play. I probably spent a lot of my time in South Africa or somewhere there. That could be OK.
“For the Asian people, which is a pretty big continent, they can all say the same [about the Asia Cup] and have all these needs. So, yes, I am not the right person to have any kind of opinion about it because we deal with how the schedule is set and how it goes. It would be better if they all played in the same moment and not every year, that would be helpful as well.
“But we have spoken about that plenty of times. At some point we just have to push a break but this time we knew about it. So I wish the boys well and hope they come back healthy.”
Read more: Report: Recalled Liverpool defender won’t feature against Arsenal
Report: Bayern Munich will move for possible Jurgen Klopp replacement