Sadio Mané Expected to Start Against Southampton

Yesterday, word out of the club was that Sadio Mané was likely be fit to play a part against Southampton on Saturday. Today, the news is even better, as the player took part in training with his teammates and finished the day’s session with no ill effects.

According to The Echo’s James Pearce, that has Liverpool’s coaching staff feeling confident that not only will Mané be able to play, he’ll be able to start despite that he returned from international duty with concerns about his previous injured hamstring.

It appears, though, to have simply been a case of soreness from his exertions of the past week, as Mané played nearly 160 minutes against first West Ham and then South Africa in less than a week after having missed a month of action due to his injury.

In further good news on the injury front for Liverpool and manager Jürgen Klopp, Jordan Henderson and Adam Lallana are also both expected to be in the squad on Saturday—though in their cases, starting the match would seem to be far less likely.

All told, it means that Liverpool could be heading into a busy December with an almost wholly fit squad, with the only significant absence right back Nathaniel Clyne, who is expected to miss the next three months after he underwent surgery on his back.