Sadio Mané believes Liverpool’s strength in depth will ensure they can maintain their challenge to Chelsea as he backed Jürgen Klopp’s side to flourish in his absence next month.
The forward cemented his position as the club’s leading scorer with a winning goal deep into stoppage time of Monday’s Merseyside derby victory over Everton, but will team up with Senegal for their Africa Cup of Nations campaign at the start of January.
Mané’s last game will be away to Sunderland on January 2 and he could be unavailable for seven matches, including games against Manchester United and Chelsea. Mané’s goal at Goodison Park took his tally to eight for the season since a £30 million move from Southampton in the summer.
Yet the forward delivered an upbeat assessment of Liverpool’s prospects while he is away on international duty.
“It will not be easy for me to go with Senegal next month,” Mané said. “I would love to carry on playing with my team-mates, but they will understand because it is my country and it is my dream.
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“Without me, the team will be the same. Even better I think. [Philippe] Coutinho will come back, Joël Matip will come back and Daniel Sturridge is back now. That is why the team will be strong.”
Mané’s haul has not included any so called cheap goals; he has frequently opened the scoring in matches as well as now supplying the winning strike against both Arsenal and Everton.
He is currently scoring once every two games which represents an improvement in his consistency from Southampton and is a point recognised within the Liverpool dressing room.
“I always knew that he was a good player,” said captain Jordan Henderson. “I had watched him at Southampton and could tell what he was like from playing against him.
“Since he has come up here, he has gone up another level. That is credit to the manager for helping him improve. It is also credit to him for wanting to improve. He has been fantastic for us this season and he will be a big miss when he goes away with Senegal.
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“But we have got players who can step in and we will deal with it. Whoever takes his place, it is up to them to carry on his work.”
It was the first time this season Liverpool have won by a scoreline of 1-0 and in doing so they revealed more about themselves, withstanding Everton’s initial attempts to bully them before finding a rhythm which bodes well as they seek to reel in Chelsea’s six point lead.
“I think wins like this shows will be there, yes,” continued Mané. “We are not thinking about Chelsea. We are focusing on our team and it was important to get the three points.
“It was a different type of win from us and that is good. It was a derby and everybody knows how these games are, so the most important thing was not how we played tonight but to have the win. We got it and we are going to keep going now. It is still early to talk about what is going to happen, but one of our ambitions is to go far as possible and we are going to try and do that.”