Sadio Mane’s season is over

LIVERPOOL – Liverpool forward Sadio Mane is set to miss the last seven games of the season with a knee injury.

Scans this week revealed the Senegal international damaged the meniscus in his left knee when falling awkwardly during Merseyside derby win over Everton last Saturday.

Liverpool had held out a slender hope top-scorer Mane could avoid an operation to repair the problem and have chance of appearing later on during the run-in.

But now manager Jurgen Klopp has confirmed the 24-year-old will now sit out the Reds’ final seven games as they aim to secure Champions League qualification.

Mane (24) was taken off after colliding with Leighton Baines in Saturday’s 3-1 home victory over Everton.

Manager Klopp said he was “pretty sure” Mane needed surgery, leaving it “pretty much impossible for him to play again this season”.

Klopp, whose side travel to Stoke at the weekend, told a news conference: “Sadio needs surgery. His season is over.

“I am pretty sure Sadio will need surgery, but I am not 100 percent sure when it will happen but then it is clear ‘season over’,” said the Reds boss.

“That is what I half-expected when I saw him after the game. I felt he was lucky that not more happened but we are close enough to the end of the season that it will be pretty much impossible to (for him) play again this season.

“He will get a longer break and will be ready for next season. That is the only good news.” The news will come as a major blow to Liverpool given Mane’s influence on the team following his arrival from Southampton last summer.

Mane had been superb for Liverpool before his cruel injury blow, scoring 13 goals and providing five assists in the Premier League. Klopp will now have to do without his Senegalese star for their all-important run-in this term.

The Reds, who take on Stoke today, have not won a match in any competition without Mane in 2017.

The £34m signing from Southampton has started all but five of Liverpool’s league games this campaign.

Of those, three were drawn and two were lost. The Reds are third in the English Premier League table with seven games left.

The Senegal international forward limped off early in the second half against Everton, and Klopp immediately ruled him out of Wednesday night’s 2-2 draw with Bournemouth, admitting the situation was not “very positive.”

Klopp also said Adam Lallana was “much better but is not in training” as the midfielder continues his recovery from a thigh injury suffered on England duty in March.

Captain Jordan Henderson, who has been out since February, is “in a good way, but I don’t know when he can be part of training again”, the German added. – BBC Sport.