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Chelsea – Liverpool combined XI

By David Cambridge

LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 16: Adam Lallana of Liverpool and Eden Hazard of Chelsea during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on September 16, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 16: Adam Lallana of Liverpool and Eden Hazard of Chelsea during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on September 16, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images) /
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SUNDERLAND, ENGLAND – JANUARY 02: Sadio Mane of Liverpool looks on during the Premier League match between Sunderland and Liverpool at Stadium of Light on January 2, 2017 in Sunderland, England. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
SUNDERLAND, ENGLAND – JANUARY 02: Sadio Mane of Liverpool looks on during the Premier League match between Sunderland and Liverpool at Stadium of Light on January 2, 2017 in Sunderland, England. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images) /

Right forward: Sadio Mane

Alongside fellow Anfield forwards Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane makes up one-third of the Premier League’s most potent attacking trio, and their downturn in form since he’s been away – the Senegal international is currently playing at AFCON, where he has already scored two goals in the group stage alone – has shown that he might just be the most important part of it.

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Mane is much more than your average pacey winger – in fact, he seldom stays on the flank, much preferring to drift inside his full-back and work the goalkeeper with an angled shot, or drill a teasing cross into the danger zone. He’s always had an unusual proclivity for finding the net, having scored a bundle of goals for Southampton (and, before that, for Red Bull Salzburg in Austria), but under Klopp he’s grown into a truly fearsome front man, notching 9 goals in his first 19 Premier League games at Anfield.

Chelsea’s Pedro is at last beginning to show the kind of form that once made him an automatic starter at the Nou Camp of all places, and has seemingly won the battle with Willian for a place on the right side of Conte’s front three, but for all his running, the Spaniard doesn’t have nearly the same end product as Mane. As a collective, the Reds can’t really compete with Chelsea’s star-studded forward ranks, but their new number 19, an African record £34M signing in the summer, would walk into any starting line-up in the Premier League.

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