Jurgen Klopp has explained that, though Sadio Mane was forced off with a “bad knock” in Liverpool’s 2-1 win at Chelsea, there are no major injury concerns.
Mane left the field after 72 minutes at Stamford Bridge, with this being Klopp’s first substitution as he sent on James Milner and Gini Wijnaldum shifted out wide.
It was far from the Senegalese’s best performance—nor the Reds’ overall—as he endeavoured with little to show for it on the left, although he did win the free-kick for Trent Alexander-Arnold‘s opener.
That proved to be costly for Mane, with Klopp telling Sky Sports after the game that the foul that led to that set-piece left him running awkwardly and, eventually, needing to be withdrawn.
“Sadio Mane in that situation for the free-kick got a bad knock,” Klopp explained.
“You could see he wasn’t really running freely.
“He’s OK, but we took him off, he wasn’t limping but I didn’t like how he was running.”
In his post-match press conference, he added that Mane suffered the “awful combination” of a knock to the knee and a dead leg.
Given Divock Origi is already sidelined, this could have been an issue if Mane were to face any time of the treatment table, but it appears to be positive.
This remains pending any further examination, as Klopp is typically optimistic with early injury assessments, and the likelihood is the 27-year-old could miss the Reds’ next game.
Fortunately, it is one that he would feasibly have sat out either way, with Liverpool taking on League One side MK Dons in the League Cup third round on Wednesday night.
Xherdan Shaqiri and Rhian Brewster are among those waiting in the wings for a start at Stadium MK, with Klopp expected to make a number of changes, allowing the likes of Mane, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino a night off.
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