Mohamed Salah is returning to Liverpool after suffering a muscle injury while on international duty with Egypt.
Salah was taken off in stoppage time of Egypt’s 4-1 win over Swaziland on Friday night.
The Egyptian Football Association (EFA) released a statement on Saturday and said the forward would play no part in Tuesday’s return fixture in Swaziland.
“[Head coach] Javier Aguirre decided to allow Salah to return back to Liverpool to give him extra rest, as medical scans revealed that getting him ready for Tuesday’s match would be difficult,” the EFA said.
Egypt’s assistant coach Hany Ramzy did not believe the issue to be serious when he spoke after the game.
Aguirre criticised the state of the pitch at the Al-Salam Stadium in Cairo at a news conference following the Africa Nations Cup qualifier.
“The pitch of Al-Salam stadium is very poor. It does not help the players to perform normally,” the Mexican said.
Salah scored directly from a corner in the first half against Swaziland before his injury occurred in the 88th minute.
Those Liverpool players not on national team duty were given time off over the international break and report back to Melwood on Monday as preparations for next Saturday’s trip to Huddersfield Town begin.