Sadio Mané confident Liverpool will sustain title challenge

There is no downside to winning a derby in the fourth minute of added time but for Sadio Mané the joy of Monday at Goodison Park will make it harder to leave Liverpool for the Africa Cup of Nations next month. He believes Jürgen Klopp's team will improve and sustain the challenge to the league leaders Chelsea in his absence.

Mané secured his place in Liverpool affections with the late goal that defeated Everton in the 227th Merseyside derby and transformed a costly goalless draw into a crucial three points. His place in Klopp's team will soon be vacated, however, when the Senegal international departs for the ACN in Gabon after Liverpool's Premier League game at Sunderland on January 2nd.

Senegal are one of the favourites for the competition having qualified with a 100 per cent record and been drawn in a group featuring Algeria, Tunisia and Zimbabwe. Should Aliou Cissé’s side progress to the latter stages – the final is in Libreville on February 5th and the third-place play off 24 hours earlier – Mané will miss Liverpool’s FA Cup third round tie at home to Plymouth Argyle or Newport County, both legs of the EFL Cup semi-final against his former club Southampton plus Premier League games against Manchester United, Swansea City, Chelsea and Hull City.

Painful absence

The 24-year-old admits his absence will be painful but says the strength of Liverpool’s squad will ensure it is only felt on a personal level. “It will not be easy for me to go with Senegal next month,” Mané says. “I would love to carry on playing with my team-mates but I think they will understand because it is my country and it is my dream.

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“I will be wishing them good luck but without me the team will be the same, even better. They will cope. [Philippe] Coutinho will come back. [Joël] Matip will come back and [Daniel] Sturridge is back now. I am very happy for him. It has not been easy for him being out. He has had a lot of injuries but you know he can deliver important performances. That is why the team will be strong.”

Liverpool returned to second in the table with their derby victory and the manner of success, recovering from a subdued first-half display to control the match and chasing the win until the end, was a statement of intent, according to Mané.

“I think wins like this show we will be there. We are not thinking about Chelsea. We are focusing on our team and it was important to get the three points at Everton. We take each game at a time. 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 to do that.”

‘Lucky’ winner

Mané described his winner as “a little bit lucky” but he was the first to react when Sturridge’s shot rebounded off the post and left Ramiro Funes Mori and Ashley Williams, Everton’s central defenders, trailing in pursuit of the rebound. The striker has scored eight goals in 18 appearances since arriving from Southampton for £34 million in the summer.

His captain, Jordan Henderson, believes Mane’s game has improved in only six months of working with Klopp. “I always knew he was a good player,” Henderson says. “I had watched him at Southampton and could tell what he was like from playing against him. Since he has come 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 and he will be a big miss when he goes away with Senegal but we will deal with it. Whoever takes his place, it is up to them to carry on his work.”

– Guardian service