Premier League: African questions and storylines on Boxing Day

The English top flight returns and the continent’s stars are bound to play a massive part in its comeback.

The World Cup provided excitement, but the Premier League’s return on Boxing Day has been anticipated since the hiatus in November.

Mohamed Salah returns to action with Liverpool, having missed the global showpiece in Qatar, as does Riyad Mahrez, whose Manchester City were beaten by Brentford before the break.

Atop the standings are Arsenal, whose start to this campaign is unprecedented, and Thomas Partey is going to have a say in the Gunners’ London derby against West Ham United.

Does Riyad Mahrez’s Liverpool goal bode well for struggling star?

It has not been an enviable start to the 2022-23 campaign for the Algeria superstar, who was rooted to the bench for Manchester City’s final three league games before the World Cup.

However, he returned with a bang against Liverpool in the EFL Cup on Thursday, taking his goal well for his first strike versus the Reds at the 15th time of asking.

Whether that goal kickstarts Mahrez’s season remains to be seen, but Pep Guardiola will hope the wide attacker returns to the form that saw him produce consistently en route to successive Champions League finals.

Has World Cup break halted Mohamed Salah’s momentum?

An inconsistent start to the season saw the Liverpool star blow hot and cold in front of goal, before showing signs of a return to his finest form with a decent-to-good run before facing Southampton.

Salah may have been profligate in that 3-1 success over the Saints, but the form preceding that game at Anfield saw the Egyptian score three in the previous two games and four goals in five Premier League fixtures.

If his goal in the Reds’ 3-2 defeat by Manchester City is anything to lean on, the goalscoring is set to continue when Liverpool travel to Aston Villa on Boxing Day.

Joe Aribo’s questionable Southampton situation

Aribo had a weird time under Ralph Hasenhuttl, featuring in several positions under the Austrian before the tactician’s departure.

Under Nathan Jones, the situation seems worse, albeit after two games in all competitions. Aribo got only eight minutes off the bench in Southampton’s 3-1 loss at Liverpool before the interlude and was an unused substitute in Tuesday’s 2-1 EFL Cup victory over Lincoln City.

Was Jones resting Aribo for Monday afternoon’s encounter with Brighton & Hove Albion? All will be revealed when the former Luton Town head coach’s XI is revealed.

Will Leicester City’s Africans pick up where they left off?

Admittedly, it was a wretched time for Wilfred Ndidi and, in particular, Kelechi Iheanacho before the hiatus, but Daniel Amartey enjoyed a good run before the November break.

The centre-back was involved in the Leicester revival that saw them go into the intermission as one of the league’s in-form sides, having looked to be hitherto involved in a relegation fight.

Only Arsenal and Newcastle United picked up more points in a five-game period preceding the mid-season pause, so it will be interesting to see how Brendan Rodgers’ crew fare when they play host to the Magpies at the King Power Stadium.