Liverpool vs Stoke City - Klopp confident players can step up to fill Mane void

Posted Tuesday, December 27, 2016 by PA

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has already made plans to offset the loss of leading scorer Sadio Mane next month and is confident someone in his squad will step up to fill the void.

The Senegal forward, who has eight goals this season, will be available for the next three matches - at home to Stoke and Manchester City and away at Sunderland - before he joins up with his national team for the African Nations Cup in Gabon.

He could miss more than a month if, as expected, his country progress to the latter stages of the tournament and, while Klopp admits he does not have a like-for-like replacement, he does have other options.

"He's a winger, so a very offensive player, outstanding player, very good, can play in the half-space, can do everything," the German said.

"If we had five other wingers to replace him already then we cannot have the team we have in this moment, with the atmosphere we have in this moment where everybody feels he is really important.

"You cannot have everything, so we decided to do this. Sadio's away and we have to find solutions.

"We have been a little bit unlucky with injuries in the wrong moments but we still can play different systems and a lot of our players are really versatile and that's what we have to use.

"It's another sign for a kind of confidence: if you think the only system we can play is this system, that's not like it is, but we need to really show this."

Klopp's side have an extra day to prepare for the visit of Stoke compared to their rivals, who play Boxing Day, and, while the Reds boss is used to a winter break having managed in Germany, he would not want to have a break at this point with his side in the form they are.

"The good thing with having no break is you don't feel like you need a break," he added.

"So in Germany it was always like, 'Two weeks to go and then we have a break', but here nobody is in this mood.

"Everybody's on fire, we are all on the track, and that's a really good thing."

Tuesday will see the return to Anfield of Joe Allen for the first time since he left in the summer.

The Wales midfielder could not hold down a regular place under Klopp despite some influential performances but the Liverpool boss has no regrets about allowing him to leave as it was for the player's benefit.

"Do we miss Joe Allen? Yes. Nice guy, unbelievably strong player, but it was kind of a common decision," he said.

"He plays a little bit more offensive (for Stoke) than he probably would have played for us. Joe Allen is for sure an outstanding player. I would say we need to keep an eye on him."

Central defender Joel Matip is struggling to be fit for the match after missing the last two matches with an ankle injury.

Striker Daniel Sturridge made a decisive impact coming off the bench in Monday's Merseyside derby win but is likely to be among the substitutes again with Klopp likely to persist with Divock Origi, while playmaker Philippe Coutinho has not yet returned to team training due to ankle ligament damage.

Dutch midfielder Ibrahim Afellay is set to make his long-awaited return to the Stoke squad after suffering knee ligament damage in April as he resumed training in October and played 63 minutes for the under-23s last week.

Marko Arnautovic is suspended and Phil Bardsley and Geoff Cameron (both knee) remain out while Jack Butland looks set for a prolonged spell on the sidelines following another operation to get to the bottom of his ankle problem.