Jurgen Klopp on why Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah missed out against Nottingham Forest

Jurgen Klopp has given an update on Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane ahead of the World Cup Qualifier games.

This international break is pointless for most European clubs. However, it is far from a pointless break for Egypt and Senegal this time around.

The two African sides have already faced each other this season in the AFCON final, where Mane's Senegal beat Mo's Egypt on penalties.

They now have to face each other once again, this time it's for a space in the Qatar World Cup later this year.

Speaking after the Forest game, as cited by Anfield Watch's Twitter account, Klopp confirmed that the World Cup qualifier was one of the reasons why he benched the pair.

"Mo felt the foot again from the Brighton game. [It's] not massive, but it was clear that you would not be in a game like this if you have a little bit of pain here, or there. There is no chance," said Klopp.

"In that moment it was clear that we will not use Sadio for the game because the game is too big in Africa. I don't want to be twice the one who is doing things like that, which could be misunderstood.

“The others were all unavailable. Mo was unavailable, only Sadio we left out.”

Anfield Watch Verdict

Luckily Mane and Salah were not needed against Forest yesterday, however, even if Mo was fully fit Klopp probably wouldn't have started him anyway.

This match is one of the most important games for each country and Klopp did not want to be on the end of an angry mob if one of the Liverpool forwards got injured in a game against a Championship side before such a big tie.

The game is another tough situation for Liverpool fans as one player has to come back disappointed like last time. Hopefully whichever player doesn't qualify can keep their head held high and help guide the Reds to a historic quadruple.