Egypt's coach, Hossam Hassan, thinks Liverpool's Mohamed Salah will do great at the Africa Cup of Nations. Egypt, who has won the thing seven times already, starts playing on Monday.

Salah stirred things up earlier this month with what he said at Elland Road, where he wasn't too happy with his team. Things have cooled down since then, and now the 33-year-old is getting ready to represent his country in Morocco.

Salah seems like he's really into it during practice, like he's just joined the team, Hassan said before their first game against Zimbabwe.

I think he's going to have a super competition for his country. Salah will be one of the best there. He'll still be a star and one of the top players on the planet.

This season, Salah's only gotten four goals in the Premier League—and just one more in other games. Some think Arne Slot's team plays better without him lately.

After being benched against Leeds, Salah gave that interview because he was mad, even though he had played well against Brighton the week before leaving.

Mohamed and I talked a lot during what I wouldn't call a crisis. It's normal for a player to disagree with their coach at their club, Hassan said.

Salah went through something like this before when he wasn't scoring goals with ‌Liverpool. Then he got back on track with the national team. And he came back even better than before.

Salah didn't say nice things about his relationship with Liverpool's head coach, Slot, but Slot didn't make a big deal out of it when asked before the Spurs game.

"Like I said last week, what you do is more important than what you say," Slot replied when asked if things still needed to be worked out.

We're past it. He was playing, and I subbed him in first.

He's got AFCON now and has some important matches to play. It makes sense that everyone focuses on [Egypt].

StadiumNest thinks AFCON is happening at just the right moment to calm things down. Liverpool has a lot of players hurt right now, so when Salah gets back, he'll be needed. But this time away from Liverpool should be good for him.

AFCON is coming up in Morocco from December 21 to January 18.

Heads up: this tourney is switching from every two years to every four after this one.

So, who's expected to win? Opta says Morocco, Egypt, Senegal, Algeria, and Nigeria are the top contenders, in that order.

Let's check out why they're tipped to win and who to watch on each team.

Morocco

Opta puts Morocco at the top with a 19.1% shot at winning. Not shocking, since they're playing at home and got to the World Cup semi-finals recently.

Walid Regragui is still coaching after that World Cup run, and he's got a solid team.

Keep an eye on PSG’s Achraf Hakimi and Real Madrid’s Brahim Diaz, plus Nayef Aguerd, Noussair Mazraoui, Sofyan Amrabat, and Eliesse Ben Seghir.

Egypt

All eyes will be glued to Mohamed Salah, like always, but for maybe a different reason this time.

After his little outburst after the Liverpool vs. Leeds match, it'll be interesting to see how he does for Egypt.

He's a guaranteed starter for Hossam Hassan (if he's fit). Even though Egypt has won AFCON seven times (the most ever), Salah has never won it.

Opta gives Egypt a 12.4% chance of winning. Besides Salah and Omar Marmoush, their team isn't as loaded as some others.

Senegal

Senegal might have the best team overall, including Edouard Mendy, Kalidou Koulibaly, Idrissa Gueye, Ismaila Sarr, Pape Sarr, Ibrahim Mbaye, Iliman Ndiaye, Nicolas Jackson, and Sadio Mane.

They snagged their first AFCON title in 2021, and Opta thinks they've got a 12.3% chance to repeat.

Interestingly, Senegal is grouped with DR Congo, whom they beat to get a World Cup spot. Congo ended up second and now has to do a playoff in March to get there, so they might want some revenge.

Algeria

Algeria took home the trophy in 2019 and might be past their prime now, but Opta still gives them a 12% chance.

Riyad Mahrez is still their main man, like back in 2019. They also have Ismael Bennacer and Rayan Ait-Nouri.

Since their win in 2019, they haven't made it out of the group stage at AFCON, so they're looking to turn that around.

Nigeria

After missing out on the next World Cup, the Super Eagles definitely have something to prove here.

Like Senegal, their team is stacked with Calvin Bassey, Nathan Tella, Wilfred Ndidi, Ademola Lookman, Alex Iwobi, Samuel Chukwueze, and Victor Osimhen.

Opta gives them a 7.3% chance to win.

Other stuff to watch

Ivory Coast, even though they won the last AFCON in 2023, is ranked seventh by Opta, behind all the teams listed above and also Tunisia.

Ghana, which has won AFCON four times, didn't even make it this year.

It should be a fun tournament, and it all starts this week with Morocco vs. Comoros.