Liverpool will be forced to adjust their style of play should the Africa Cup of Nations go ahead as planned, Jurgen Klopp has claimed.
Reports emerged on Wednesday morning that the European Club Association (ECA) had written to the Confederation of African Football (CAF) demanding AFCON to be called off, though the Reds will bid farewell to Mohamed Salah, Naby Keita and Sadio Mane for one month if the competition is played between January 9 and February 6.
Liverpool previously lost Mane for seven matches during the 2016/17 season due to AFCON participation, with the club's only win during this period coming against Plymouth Argyle in an FA Cup third round replay.
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The Reds avoided a similar situation unfolding in 2019 as the decision was made for the biennial tournament to be played in summer months.
'Unfavorable climatic conditions' during June and July in host nation Cameroon has prompted the return of mid-season disruption for a number of clubs, though Klopp is not prepared to make any excuses should Liverpool's form stutter in the absence of Keita, Mane and Salah.
“In football, you can be the better team and win a game and you can be the better team and lose a football game. You can have a plan and win a football game and you can have no plan and win a football game. It’s all possible," said the Reds' boss.
“Whoever will play in a period when the three boys are not here will have a plan and gives us the chance to win a football game. Can we play exactly the same football? Probably not, but who cares. We play the football we are able to play then, that’s the situation."
While aware that Liverpool could suffer without this trio at his disposal, Klopp conceded that their departures should not come as a surprise each time AFCON comes around.
“The three boys helped us so much in the last few years and we knew that they were from Africa [when signing]. They have been so important in all these situations but now they are probably not here, so that’s the situation.
"You can’t always have the perfect solution. In this case, it’s absolutely far away from being perfect without these players. But we knew it, and now we have to deal with it.”
