Liverpool fans were left confused when Sadio Mane was substituted early during their 2-1 win against Chelsea on Sunday.
The Senegalese winger is one of the Reds star players these days, but was withdrawn by Jurgen Klopp after 71 minutes at Stamford Bridge.
Fans could not understand the change as they did not know he was carrying an injury, but after the game Klopp confirmed that he took the former Southampton man off due to a “knock on the bone around the knee” whilst he also had a dead leg.
Speaking to the official Liverpool website, the German continued: “He tried everything but I think you saw, there was one counter situation when he really tried and I would say on a non-dead-leg day he will get that ball, but no chance and then we say ‘come on, now we have to do it’ and changed. That’s it.”
The last thing the title challenging Merseyside club need is an injury to one of their key men. Mane has been outstanding so far this term and has already bagged four goals in just six appearances.
Liverpool face MK Dons in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday, but it seems likely that Mane will not feature at all in that game to give him a rest and also offering him the best chance of being fit for their next Premier League game against Sheffield United.
Several fans took to Twitter to give their reaction to news of Mane’s injury problem, here is what they had to say…
He’s running him to the ground now. Let Shaq get a run, let Brewster get some minutes, we can’t keep throwing the 9-10 players every match. If he had a trust issue with who he has on the bench, he should have shopped for more depth. Not whining, just a tad concerned
— meïr (@meirdotcom) September 22, 2019
The sub makes sense now. Thought it was strange he came off instead of Mo.
— Eathen.. (@Eathen_1892) September 22, 2019
Need him next wk end give rest on Wednesday pic.twitter.com/xzonQd20DF
— supermane10 (@supermanelfc) September 22, 2019
Dead leg, just rest him and the whole XI for the league cup.
— RossFC (@RossT17) September 22, 2019
Please be okay for next week Mané🤞🏻😔
— conall (@cxnallLFC_) September 22, 2019
Hopefully recovers over the week, 100% should be rested against MK Dons, probably shouldn’t even be included in the squad.
— . (@SKh1997) September 23, 2019
