Losing Mane for six weeks will hurt Liverpool more than the sale of Coutinho to Barcelona

THERE is a brutal truth separating Jurgen Klopp from Jose Mourinho in England’s version of El Clasico this weekend.

In three transfer windows since he took charge at Old Trafford, Mourinho has built a squad capable of winning the title for Manchester United. But after four windows at Anfield, Jurgen Klopp is still a million miles away from conquering the Premier League.

When Klopp has his best team out, Liverpool can beat anyone – especially at Anfield. And if Sadio Mane, Adam Lallana and Nathaniel Clyne were all fit, I would have fancied them to inflict United’s first defeat of the campaign. But titles are usually won by the best squad, and here’s the rub. Liverpool might be capable of beating United over 90 minutes, but they are not yet equipped to beat them over 38 games.

Where Klopp went out and spent £35million on Alex Oxladechamberlain, who has been struggling,

United spent £70m on a centre-forward who has scored 11 goals in 10 games.

Such is the depth of

Mourinho’s squad now that, even with Paul Pogba and Marouane Fellaini out, he can bring in Ander Herrera (below) – probably United’s best player last season.

If United’s front three of Romelu Lukaku, Marcus Rashford and Henrikh Mkhitaryan needs a reshuffle, Mourinho can turn to Anthony Martial, Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard. But for Liverpool, the loss of Mane (above, with Klopp) through injury for six weeks will be a hammer blow. Don’t get me wrong: I’m a big fan of Klopp, and I don’t have time for fans who call up my 606 radio show saying he has to go. When Liverpool are on song, they are fantastic to watch: I could sit and watch a front five of Mane, Mohamed Salah, Philippe Coutinho, Roberto Firmino and Lallana all day long. Klopp’s record against last season’s top seven is very good: 12 wins, nine draws and only two defeats in 23 games. His achilles heel has been dropping points against the so-called lesser teams.

But if Liverpool lose against United this time, the title will be gone for another season. The gap would be 10 points, the meter will tick over to 28 years without the holy grail. Klopp would be under pressure because he is still nowhere near solving his team’s defensive puzzle. Where United and Manchester City have conceded only two goals apiece in the first seven games, and Tottenham only five, Liverpool have shipped 12 already.

I fear it will hurt Klopp to lose Mane for six weeks even more than if he had lost Coutinho to Barcelona during that transfer tug-of-war in August.

When Coutinho was out injured before Christmas last season, Liverpool stayed in the title race – but when Mane went to the Africa Cup of Nations in the New Year, their season fell apart. They were knocked out of both domestic cups by Wolves and Southampton, lost at home to struggling Swansea in the league, lost at Hull and even dropped points at rock-bottom Sunderland.

Mane is as important to Liverpool as Harry Kane is to Tottenham. That’s the measure of his influence.

In his absence, Liverpool will need to be ruthless and take their chances. To date, United have scored 21 goals from 121 attempts, while Liverpool have scored 13 from 137 shots.

Having said all that, this is United’s first big test against one of the big guns this season and I expect Mourinho to err on the side of caution because this is, after all, one of the greatest club fixtures in the world.

I’ve heard it said that Liverpool are no longer a ‘big’ club because they haven’t won the title since 1990.

Absolute nonsense – in Africa, Asia and every other continent where the Premier League is a huge export, you’ll see as many replica Liverpool shirts as any other strip.

The occasional splinter, from sitting on the fence, doesn’t hurt too much – so I’m going for a tight, tense 1-1 draw.

But mark my words: If Liverpool lose, the ‘Klopp Out’ brigade will be out in force on the phone-in lines.