Naby Keita is on his way back to Liverpool after his Guinea side were eliminated from the Africa Cup of Nations.
Keita was suspended for the last-16 clash with Gambia at the Kouekong Stadium after picking up two yellow cards in the group stage.
And Guinea missed their captain as they were beaten 1-0 by Gambia, who settled the contest with a cool 71st-minute finish from Bologna's Musa Barrow.
Guinea piled forward in search of an equaliser, and had an effort ruled out for offside and twice hit the woodwork in a frantic finish, but they could not find one, despite Gambia finishing the match with 10 men after Yusupha Njie was sent off for two yellow cards.
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Liverpool turned up the pressure on Premier League leaders Manchester City with a 3-1 victory at Crystal Palace on Sunday.
They now have two weeks off before returning to action on Sunday, February 6 when they welcome Cardiff City to Anfield for a FA Cup fourth-round tie.
And Keita, who was man-of-the-match in Guinea’s first two group games before scoring a superb goal against Zimbabwe, should be available now that his AFCON campaign has come to an end.
Liverpool still have two players at the tournament - star strikers Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane.
Mane’s Senegal side take on Cape Verde on Tuesday (4pm) before Salah and Egypt face Ivory Coast on Wednesday (4pm) with places in the quarter-finals at stake.
