Sadio Mane has ‘lost a little bit of belief’ amid Liverpool goal drought, claims John Aldridge

Mane has scored just once in his past 11 appearances in all competitions

(Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

Former Liverpool striker John Aldridge believes Sadio Mane has “lost a little bit of belief” after going six Premier League games without scoring for Jurgen Klopp’s side.

Mane, who scored 40 goals across the past two top-flight campaigns, has struck just once in his last 11 appearances in all competitions this season.

Liverpool remain level at the top of the table with Tottenham after their 4-0 thrashing of Wolves, but speaking after the game Aldridge told the Liverpool Echo: “I felt a little bit for Sadio Mane who deserved a goal for another tremendous performance and it was a pity the last one was taken off him and given as an own goal.

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“He seems to have lost a little bit of belief in front of goal and I know what that's like but he's just got to keep getting into the positions and the goals will flow again soon, I'm sure of it.”

Sadio Mane has failed to fire so far this season (Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

Alridge was delighted by seeing 2,000 fans return to Anfield and hopes people will stick to social distancing guidelines so steadily the “special” atmosphere at Liverpool can return to proper capacity in the coming months. 

“It was brilliant and quite emotional to see supporters back in Anfield for the first time since the pandemic struck and there's no doubt at all it helped the players," he said.

“As Jurgen Klopp said, Liverpool fans always raise the bar and whether people like it or not, that's the truth. Our people are special and showed it again on Sunday night.

“As a player, you're always going to respond to that and it really was wonderful to see and hear.

“There's a big carrot for fans now because, if people stick to what they've been told to do, bit-by-bit hopefully we can get more of them back in the ground sooner rather than later.

“That's the incentive for people to act sensibly in the build-up to Christmas and over the holidays and if they do, hopefully we will see the numbers of fans allowed into the ground rise which is what we all want.

“We really don't want to see it get knocked back again because you could see against Wolves what it meant to the team and the manager to have 2,000 in so, if everyone plays their part, hopefully it can be 15,000 soon and more after that.

“But the only way that can happen is if people do what they have to do to beat this virus so let's everyone bear that in mind.”