Premier League: 3 Liverpool players Chelsea wish they had

#3 Sadio Mane

Maurizio Sarri would surely love to have Sadio Mane in his team

Mohamed Salah might’ve struggled in front of goal this season at times – despite scoring 18 Premier League goals – but one man who’s stepped up for Liverpool big time in 2018/19 is Salah’s fellow forward Sadio Mane. The Senegalese attacker has been fantastic this season, often acting as Liverpool’s focal attacking point, and he’s popped up with many important goals along the way.

Chelsea on the other hand have relied heavily on Eden Hazard thus far – the Belgian is clearly one of the Premier League’s most outstanding performers – but Hazard has often played as a more central attacker this season, meaning the Blues have also had to lean on the ageing duo of Willian and Pedro too.

It’s not that either Willian or Pedro have had terrible seasons – both men have showed flashes of brilliance, Pedro most notably against Tottenham in February. But they’ve also been painfully inconsistent at times, and to compare their statistics to Mane’s is completely eye-opening.

Mane has 17 Premier League goals; more than Willian’s 3 and Pedro’s 8 combined – and while Willian has made 6 assists to Mane’s 1, the Senegalese star completes more dribbles, draws more fouls and clearly creates more of a problem for opposing defences than either man.

Chelsea might have a diamond for the future in the form of Callum Hudson-Odoi in the wide forward positions, but right now – aside from Hazard – there are none better in the Premier League than Mane. And Maurizio Sarri would almost certainly love to be able to use him in his side this weekend – instead of having to defend against his talents.