Liverpool Handed Huge Boost As Key Man Set To Return For Chelsea Showdown

Liverpool have been handed a huge boost with Sadio Mane set to return for their crunch showdown with Chelsea at Anfield on Tuesday night, according to the Mirror.

Mane has been away with Senegal at the African Cup of Nations this month and helped his country progress from the group stages in to the quarter finals in Gabon.

However, the attacker suffered heartbreak as he missed the decisive penalty as Senegal crashed out on Saturday night following a shoot-out defeat to Cameroon.

The silver-lining for Liverpool is that Mane is now set to make a swift return to the club with the Mirror citing the Liverpool Echo as saying that the Reds are desperate for him to be available to face Chelsea and have chartered a private jet to fly the player back to Merseyside.

The newspaper states that Mane is due to arrive back in England today and will be assessed by Liverpool’s medical team at Melwood on Monday to see what kind of shape he’s in following his exertions on international duty.

As long as he’s given the all-clear, the Mirror suggest that Mane will be included in the squad to take on Chelsea on Tuesday night although it remains to be seen whether Jurgen Klopp will risk him from the start.

It’s likely that the 24-year-old will be included on the bench against the Premier League leaders before making his return to the starting eleven for Saturday’s trip to the KCOM Stadium to face Hull City.

Even having Mane as an option from the bench against Chelsea will come as a huge boost to Liverpool as he’s been sorely missed this past few weeks with the Reds winning just one of their last seven fixtures in all competitions.

It’s been a nightmare week for the Merseysiders as they saw their title challenge derailed by a home defeat to Swansea last weekend, crashed out of the EFL Cup at the hands of Southampton in midweek before losing at home to Wolves in the FA Cup yesterday.

Mane has been a key player in Klopp’s side and has proven to be a superb signing since moving to Anfield from Southampton last summer, with the Senegal international scoring 9 goals and providing a further 7 assists in his 21 appearances so far.

During his absence, Daniel Sturridge has failed to take his opportunity so I expect we’ll see the England international soon drop back to the bench with Klopp reverting to his preferred front three of Mane, Firmino and Coutinho that worked so well during the early stages of the season.