Something went faulty, please try again subsequently. Sign up to receive the best LFC opinion direct to your inbox Sadio Mané has provided 10 goal contributions so far this season ( nine goals and one aid ), and yet few Liverpool fans would describe him as having been anything close to his best. For the last 18 months, Mané has barely not been quite matching the gamey barricade that he set for himself prior to that.

Mané has fired blanks in his past nine appearances in all competitions, meaning his goal drought now spans 808 minutes ( more than 13 hours ) of football. His assurance levels have taken a significant dip and his girl against Leicester when he scooped a shoot over the crossbar will only have exacerbated that. There is a potent argument that taking him out of the start eleven for Chelsea might be wise, with Diogo Jota playing off the impart and Roberto Firmino through the middle, though Jürgen Klopp ‘s hand might even be forced with the brazilian having missed training earlier in the week and three new Covid cases having since been confirmed. Mané, distinctly, is not finished at Liverpool, but something needs to change for him to play himself into a position where a new contract would be a no-brainer as it is with Mohamed Salah. With 18 months left on his sign besides, there would be far less concern over Mané than Salah should neither sign extensions before the end of the temper. While AFCON means that Liverpool be missing their top scorer and the best player in the world in Salah and that can not be seen as a good thing for the club, losing Mané might not prove to be then bad. AFCON might actually be what Mané needs to reset and get himself back on the right path.

The tournament in Cameroon means that he will get luck to escape the rhythm of the club temper for a few weeks, hopefully score a copulate of goals for Senegal to boost his confidence, and then return to Premier League and Champions League action with a fresh mentality, possibly with another trophy under his belt. There is no doubt that he has hit a time period of poor form ; having started the crusade with below-par overall performances but will goals to make up for it, the numbers in battlefront of finish have since dried up. But take Senegal a commodity distance in the competition as he will hope, and things could change very cursorily. As time continues to pass by with no touch that negotiations are afoot over a new deal, they might have to in order to press Liverpool into action before the summer.