Salah v Mane II: Rivals face off again in crunch World Cup qualifier

It’s Mohamed Salah v Sadio Mane again, with the two Liverpool strikers facing off as Egypt seek revenge for their African Cup of Nations final defeat by Senegal in February.

On that day in Cameroon’s capital Yaounde, Senegal beat the Pharaohs in a penalty shootout to win the cup for the first time, denying their rivals a record-improving eighth win in the continent’s blue-riband competition.

On Friday, the two Merseyside stars square up again in Cairo for the first of a two-leg World Cup qualifying tie. The second leg will be in Dakar four days later.

The stakes cannot be higher for two of Africa’s heavyweights.

Senegal have qualified for the World Cup twice, in 2018 in Russia and in 2002 in Japan and South Korea, when they surprisingly made it to the quarter-finals.

In contrast, Egypt’s qualification for the World Cup four years ago was their first appearance in the competition in nearly 30 years. They lost all three group matches – to Uruguay, Russia and Saudi Arabia – disappointing millions of fans at home and thousands who followed the team across Russia. They also failed to progress from the group stage in Italy in 1990.

Liverpool duet Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane. Reuters

The Pharaohs will be looking to make amends for that poor showing, but they need to first get over the hurdle of Senegal. Not an easy task, although the loud chants of the 60,000 fans expected at Cairo stadium could give them an edge in the Friday clash.

Just as the case was in Russia when they scored two goals in 270 minutes of play, the Pharaohs were largely ineffective up front in this year’s Afcon. In the seven matches – four of which went into extra time – they only scored four goals.

Not a good record when your attacking trio includes one