Sadio Mané to Miss West Ham & Southampton Clashes After Tearing Muscle

​Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp has confirmed that forward Sadio Mané will likely miss the next two games after picking up a muscle tear.

The 27-year-old was forced off the field during the first half of the Reds' 2-1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers, and he played no part in the draw with Shrewsbury Town in the FA Cup on Sunday.

Sadio Mane

Speaking ahead of his side's meeting with ​West Ham United on Wednesday (via the ​Liverpool Echo), Klopp revealed that ​Mané's injury is not as bad as many feared and it will only sideline him for a few weeks.

"Sadio will not be involved for West Ham and probably not ​Southampton," Klopp said. "After that he will be back on track. He has a small muscle tear which is serious enough. We were lucky with it though it wasn’t too serious."

It was new signing Takumi Minamino who replaced Mané against ​Wolves, and the Japanese international could keep his place in the team over the coming weeks.

With winger Xherdan Shaqiri also sidelined with an injury, ​Divock Origi is the only other real option for Klopp to select, and it remains to be seen which option the boss will choose to go with for the next two games.

As the team's top scorer, Mané will be missed, but ​Liverpool will be confident of finding goals from elsewhere.

Jurgen Klopp

Liverpool currently boast a whopping 16-point lead at the top of the table, while they also have a game in hand over ​Manchester City. They will hope to maintain that advantage at the London Stadium on Wednesday, with West Ham very much out of sorts.

The Reds then welcome Southampton to Anfield on 1 February after which they will embark on their winter break, which will give Mané plenty of time to make a full recovery by the time they travel to Norwich City two weeks later.


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Source : 90min