It's not unfair to say that Liverpool have hit a bit of a slump. With defeat to Southampton in the EFL Cup during the week, it marked a miserable period for the Reds, whose season now looks to be in danger of unravelling.
But it is perhaps no coincidence that this downturn in form started when they lost influential forward Sadio Mane to national duty with Senegal for the African Cup of Nations.
The club's pre-Christmas run of form now seems like a lifetime away, and Jurgen Klopp is now starting to realise just how important his summer signing has been to his plans.
It's been something that was on the cards for a while, as his last game before making way to Gabon saw him cancel out a goal that should have been the winner against Sunderland by giving away a last minute penalty for the Black Cats to equalise.
But despite that, he has been one of the club's key players over the course of the campaign, and Liverpool have only won once in his absence – a less than convincing performance in an FA Cup replay against Plymouth Argyle.
But not only have the points dried up without Mane, the goals have, too.
Since his departure, Liverpool have found the net a paltry four times, and nobody has managed to overtake him as their top scorer yet even though he has missed nearly a month of action.
Without him pressuring defenders from the front, Liverpool have lost some of that cut-and-thrust that made them such a dangerous proposition as recently as December.
And with stats compiled by the Daily Mail, we can see just how badly they need him back.
With Mane:
Played: 25, Won: 15, Drawn: 1, Lost: 1
Goals for: 55
Goals against: 21
Ave goals per game: 2.62
Win %: 71.43
Loss 5: 4.76
Without Mane:
Played: 9, Won: 3, Drawn: 2, Lost: 4
Goals for: 9
Goals against: 9
Ave goals per game: 1.00
Win %: 33.33
Loss 5: 44.44
However, Klopp already had the chance to see how his team would fare without the forward. Back in August, the Reds took on Burnley without Mane after he was ruled out through injury.
On the day, the Clarets ran out 2-0 winners, thus giving Klopp a reasonable insight into how well, or how unwell, his team could perform without him.
Mane's Senegal side have progressed easily into the quarter-final stage of the competition, meaning that an end date for his involvement in the tournament is still uncertain.
But it is perhaps no coincidence that this downturn in form started when they lost influential forward Sadio Mane to national duty with Senegal for the African Cup of Nations.
The club's pre-Christmas run of form now seems like a lifetime away, and Jurgen Klopp is now starting to realise just how important his summer signing has been to his plans.
It's been something that was on the cards for a while, as his last game before making way to Gabon saw him cancel out a goal that should have been the winner against Sunderland by giving away a last minute penalty for the Black Cats to equalise.
But despite that, he has been one of the club's key players over the course of the campaign, and Liverpool have only won once in his absence – a less than convincing performance in an FA Cup replay against Plymouth Argyle.
But not only have the points dried up without Mane, the goals have, too.
Since his departure, Liverpool have found the net a paltry four times, and nobody has managed to overtake him as their top scorer yet even though he has missed nearly a month of action.
Without him pressuring defenders from the front, Liverpool have lost some of that cut-and-thrust that made them such a dangerous proposition as recently as December.
And with stats compiled by the Daily Mail, we can see just how badly they need him back.
With Mane:
Played: 25, Won: 15, Drawn: 1, Lost: 1
Goals for: 55
Goals against: 21
Ave goals per game: 2.62
Win %: 71.43
Loss 5: 4.76
Without Mane:
Played: 9, Won: 3, Drawn: 2, Lost: 4
Goals for: 9
Goals against: 9
Ave goals per game: 1.00
Win %: 33.33
Loss 5: 44.44
However, Klopp already had the chance to see how his team would fare without the forward. Back in August, the Reds took on Burnley without Mane after he was ruled out through injury.
On the day, the Clarets ran out 2-0 winners, thus giving Klopp a reasonable insight into how well, or how unwell, his team could perform without him.
Mane's Senegal side have progressed easily into the quarter-final stage of the competition, meaning that an end date for his involvement in the tournament is still uncertain.
No comments:
Post a Comment