Liverpool Must Make Most of Sadio Mane Before Africa Cup of Nations Departure

Having sealed a last-gasp victory away to Everton on Monday night, Liverpool head into Christmas in buoyant spirits, with their 1-0 win at Goodison Park not only lifting the mood on the red half of Merseyside, but also improving the Reds’ title hopes.

Jurgen Klopp’s side have taken 37 points from their first 17 games, with only Roy Evans’ side in 1996/97 (38) and Rafa Benitez’s 2008/09 outfit (39) having more for Liverpool by Christmas since the Premier League’s inception in 1992.

However, both Evans (19) and Benitez (18) had overseen more league games by that stage, underlining Klopp’s squad as genuine title contenders—even though their average of points per game (2.18) suggests they will fall short.

In only two of the past 10 seasons—2010/11 and 2015/16—an eventual tally in line with this average (83) would have secured the title, and this is magnified by leaders Chelsea’s own exceptional average (2.53).

Antonio Conte’s Blues are current favourites to win the title, but with just six points between them and Liverpool in second place, Klopp’s side have been handed a glimmer of hope for Christmas—and their bright form must be sustained if they are to catch up and continue their title bid.

Soon, however, they will be left without Monday night’s match-winner, Sadio Mane, who will depart for the Africa Cup of Nations at the beginning of January.

This leaves Mane with three more club outings before he joins the Senegal squad in Gabon—at home to Stoke City (December 27) and Manchester City (December 31), and away to Sunderland (January 2)—and Liverpool need to maximise the 24-year-old’s quality ahead of his costly exit.

When Mane signed for Liverpool, becoming Klopp’s biggest signing of the summer—and the club’s biggest since Christian Benteke, who left a disappointing legacy at Anfield—the £30 million spent to take him from Southampton represented something of a risk.

While the winger scored 25 goals and laid on 14 assists in 75 appearances for the Saints over two seasons, his exciting attacking play was marred by a troubling inconsistency.

In 2014/15, his first season at St. Mary’s Stadium, Mane directly contributed to a goal in just 10 of his 30 league outings (33.3 percent), while in 2015/16, he scored or assisted in just 12 of 37 games in the English top flight (32.4 percent).

But he has so far quashed this at Liverpool, with his late goal at Goodison—following up Daniel Sturridge’s hopeful effort …

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