Liverpool star Sadio Mane forms part of a trio which the Reds rely on, perhaps heavily, in their bid to end a long wait to lift the Premier League title. However, Jurgen Klopp has seen Mohamed Salah fail to score in a handful of matches recently while Roberto Firmino has suffered an injury which has seen Mane deployed as a false nine in some games – the Senegal international scored twice in a 5-0 demolition of Watford recently playing the role but Salah failed to hit target in that game as well as in the goalless draw with Everton last time out.
Despite the dip in goalscoring form, Mane is backing his strike partners Salah and Firmino to start firing the goals again to reignite Liverpool’s title challenge. And he says there is no rivalry between the trio of forwards as they look to create history with the Anfield club. The 26-year-old star is in a rich vein of form, scoring six goals in Liverpool’s last eight games. Salah and Firmino on their parts have hit just three goals between them in the same period as Liverpool have been knocked off the Premier League’s top spot by Manchester City.
And with the Merseyside giants just a point behind their rivals as they chase their first Premier League crown, Mane is confident the goals will start flowing for each of the trio. “We know we maybe didn’t start the season quite as strongly as we were playing last year,” he told World Soccer. “We were at an extremely high level, but hopefully it is coming again. Mo, Bobby…it seemed like everyone was signing contracts and they were saying, ‘hey, Sadio when are you going to sign?’ I said to each of them, ‘don’t worry bro, I will sign’. And what did I do? I signed, so they are pleased now! I’m very happy here and I think people are happy with me too. We want to write our names alongside the many great ones in the famous story of this club. Hopefully it’s just the beginning of something special.”
Reigning PFA and FWA Player of the Year, Salah leads the Liverpool scoring charts with 20 in all competitions, while Mane has 15 and Firmino 11. But Mane insists there is no competition between the trio – and is keen to present a united front. “The media seem to expect there to be, but I can honestly say it isn’t even a competition for us,” he added. “I think you can see that in our relationship both on and off the pitch. Everyone is trying to do all that we can for the success of Liverpool – it’s not just about us.”
He added: “We just want to win trophies with this team. That is the priority. I know other players in the world have a rivalry going for individual awards, but for us it isn’t something we think about too much. If we do, we have a laugh about it and if one of us ends up winning, we are all happy. The fact we get short-listed for any individual awards can only be good for Liverpool and our countries because it means we are doing something right.”
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