Salah gave advice to Egypt goalkeeper before Mane missed Senegal penalty

Mohamed Salah won an early battle of wits with Sadio Mane as the Senegal star fluffed his penalty just minutes into the Africa Cup of Nations final.

The two Liverpool teammates almost came face to face in the area as Egypt captain Salah gave advice to goalkeeper Gabaski over which way to dive.

Senegal earned the golden opportunity to take the lead four minutes into the match as Mohamed Abdelmonem clumsily brought down the onrushing Saliou Ciss.

Mane had no time for Salah and Gabaski's discussion and approached the towering shot-stopper to tell him to step back to the goalmouth so he could take the penalty.

The 29-year-old opted for power with his spot kick but was left dismayed as Gabaski got a strong hand to his effort to keep the game scoreless.

Did Mohamed Salah tell Gabaski how to save Sadio Mane's penalty? Have your say in the comments!

Fans will speculate as to whether Salah advised the Egypt goalkeeper on how to deny Mane from 12 yards.

The two world-renowned forwards know each other well as they have been teammates at Anfield since 2017 and share a healthy rivalry.

Jurgen Klopp sent his best wishes to both players ahead of the AFCON final and said had no doubt the two "warriors" would give everything for their countries before returning to Merseyside.

However, the Liverpool manager refused to confirm whether they would be involved in the Premier League clash against Leicester on Thursday, which comes four days after the final in Cameroon.

"These two boys are real warriors," Klopp said of Salah and Mane. "They are constantly ready, they are both not worried about holidays or days off. I never heard them ask about it.

"So with these two boys it is really simple. I know they want to play immediately but ­together with them we have to find out how much sense it makes.

"You can imagine both want to play against Leicester, to score goals and win games for Liverpool. But it's a few days until we have to make a decision."

Klopp added: "Mo and Sadio have both had a successful Africa Cup of Nations, but there is one winner and all the rest lose. That is the world we created for these boys. Thank you for asking, because no one asks how they deal with it.

"But I can deal with it no ­problem. I will help them with all I have. When they come back, we will have to talk and we will see if they need anything.

"If they need a day off, or this kind of thing. They are our boys, we will do everything to help them in all situations."