Our best player Sadio Mane has spoken in length about the Ederson incident which saw him red-carded v Manchester City and saw Liverpool begin a nasty run of form which hasn’t seen us win in four games.
Mane was suspended for the Burnley draw and Leicester defeat and will miss our trip to the King Power Stadium on Saturday, too.
We’ve badly missed the Senegalese flyer, as we did last term, too – but the attacker himself has found sitting on the sidelines just as tough.
He told ESPN: “It is not an easy time for me because I would love to play all the time and help my team-mates. It’s bad, but I have to accept the suspension and wait until my comeback.
“I’m a football player and I love to play and score, to give us goals for the team. The suspension is part of football and I just have to accept it and move forward and be ready for my next game, which is coming soon.”
Mane also took time to reach out to Ederson, City’s Brazilian stopper who was badly injured in their clash.
The player posted a message of support on social media, but would like the chance to do it in person, if possible.
“We don’t know each other, but I would love to have his number and send him a proper message. I think it is OK now, though.
“Honestly, after this incident, I was not OK. I was thinking about the red card, obviously, but we are human beings and we have to be nice to each other.”
Mane is a crucial part of our team, but we need to win without him this weekend, or we’ll definitely be in a crisis.
A defeat v Leicester and our title ambitions will be dead already.