MANE PUTS VILLA BACK IN KNOCKDOWN

Sadio strike, and a clincher from youngster Jones, punishes brave Villa and leaves them in bottom three

WHEN Jurgen Klopp urged people not to turn up at Anfield, maybe his champions thought he was referring to them.

But while the best team in the land did not show for this contest, Sadio Mane did. Fortunately for Klopp, he never takes a day off. When the individual accolades are dished out at the end of this surreal season, there is a chance Liverpool players will split the vote and allow Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne to collect the honours.

That would hardly be ill-deserved, De Bruyne being the most accomplished footballer in the Premier League.

But it would be a real shame if Mane did not finally get the full individual recognition his outstanding contribution to Liverpool’s cause deserves. In keeping with the overall standard of this occasion, Mane was not at his most sparkling best.

But he made the decisive run and struck the decisive shot just when it mattered. And that has become Mane’s trademark. An important goalscorer, a scorer of important goals.

In the grand scheme of things, the one that put Liverpool on course for another victory here was not of monumental significance – not like the winner he scored in the dying seconds of the fixture at Villa Park earlier in the season.

But, make no mistake, Klopp will want the Premier League points record and as big a winning margin over Pep Guardiola’s City as is possible. And before Mane, unlike the masses, turned up for this match, Villa looked to be heading quite comfortably for a share of the spoils.

In fact, they should be kicking themselves for failing to take advantage of a Liverpool performance that was, for large periods, completely unrecognisable.

After a poor first half, the visitors actually had the first decent chance to break the deadlock, but Anwar El Ghazi allowed Alisson to save far too comfortably.

That, in a near-post nutshell, is why Dean Smith’s men are stumbling back towards the Championship. They looked bereft of confidence in an attacking sense, even though this was as vulnerable as you are likely to see Liverpool’s defence. Even Jack Grealish, troubled by some sort of

Mane beats Villa keeper Reina for the opener and (left) Jones seals the victory

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