Why Sadio Mane’s Liverpool form is not as worrying as it looks on the surface

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Liverpool’s Sadio Mane started the season strongly but his attacking output has dipped significantly recently and, if it weren’t for Mohamed Salah and Diogo Jota, Jurgen Klopp’s side would be in trouble.

But is the Senegal international playing as badly as his recent track record would suggest? I honestly didn’t think he was performing as poorly as many Liverpool fans on social media were saying; that’s why I was shocked by his recent stats.

In all competitions this season, Mane has nine goals and one assist. Decent but nothing special.

However, in his last eight games, he has no goals or assists. That really shocked me. That includes games against Spurs, AC Milan and Everton. Liverpool scored 19 goals in that time, so it’s not as though they struggled for strikes.

Just a quick glance at Mane’s WhoScored rating’s shows an average of 7.1. He has been playing well on the whole but has lacked the finishing touch.

What I have noticed, while Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah have scored and assisted a combined total of 13 goals in their last eight matches, Mane has been tasked with carrying the ball from deep.

He is certainly not a left-sided midfielder, as Klopp still wants him to get forward. But it seems he is being tasked with a more defensive role.

While Mane hasn’t scored or assisted any at all, his lack of goals has been more than made up for by his attacking teammates.