Will not be available..? Liverpool star Mohamed Salah fires surprise injury message ahead of Arsenal clash

Mohamed Salah is working hard to come back from injury as Liverpool face Arsenal this weekend. The 31-year-old missed the final weeks of the African Championships before making an early return due to an injury he sustained while playing for Egypt earlier this month.

After being withdrawn from the group stage match against Ghana, it was later announced that he would be out for up to 28 days. He would have completed his rehabilitation from the injury in Liverpool and had the opportunity to return with Egypt if they had qualified for the final, but his nation was eliminated in the round of 16.

So Salah and Liverpool can now focus on when he can return from his hamstring problem, although Jurgen Klopp has done well without his star man. Liverpool have won five of the six games they have played without Salah, while scoring four goals each in Premier League games against Bournemouth and Chelsea in recent weeks.

Given that, Klopp may not feel compelled to rush Salah back into the game, as his update ahead of Wednesday’s game against Chelsea confirmed. “He is not ready for this game [against Chelsea], he is not ready for the next game [against Arsenal],” he said. “So he is injured. I’m not sure if it was a misunderstanding at the beginning. He is injured and a muscle injury takes time.

“It could have been a lot worse but he is not available at the moment. He is just doing rehabilitation.” Given Klopp’s comments, it can be assumed that the rehabilitation is taking place in the gym, but Salah was caught in individual training on the grass.

Liverpool first released pictures of him outside Melwood’s training facility, but now Salah himself has revealed the work he is doing as he flirts with a possible early return. On Instagram, Salah posted two pictures of him running around the pitch non-stop, which could indicate that a return to team training is imminent.

Playing against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday is still highly unlikely, but a return against Burnley or Brentford later in the month would certainly be a viable return date. If Liverpool manage to draw with Arsenal in the FA Cup earlier this year, an eight-point gap could open up between the two teams, with Manchester City still five points behind the league leaders, but with one more game in hand.