says he fully believes that Luis Diaz can fill the goal-scoring void left by at Liverpool.
Diaz signed for the Reds in January and was an instant hit at Anfield, scoring four goals in just 11 starts and helping the club to and League Cup glory.
Now in his first full campaign with the club, big things are tipped for the 25-year-old but there is also a lot of pressure on his shoulders as he is expected to effectively replace the legendary Mane on the left-side of Liverpool’s attack.
Mane, who departed for over the summer, scored 120 goals across 269 games for Liverpool, never failed to hit double figures in the Premier League and currently stands as the club’s fifth highest goal scorer of all-time in the league behind only Robbie Fowler, Steven Gerrard, Mohamed Salah, and Michael Owen.
While it is impossible to predict the long-term future, Klopp is sure that Diaz can have a prolific campaign in 2022/23, despite failing to get on the scoresheet in Liverpool’s opening day 2-2 draw at Fulham.
When asked whether the Colombian could score 15 goals this season, the Liverpool manager replied: ‘Definitely, that is his quality. We need to see it but of course that is his potential.
‘We work on it but not with Luis specifically – we don’t take him out because the other two [Salah and Darwin Nunez] scored and he didn’t so we show him how. That’s not necessary. You can’t force it.
‘You see the situations he [Diaz] had [at Fulham], big chances, and he was unlucky. He is in a really good shape and that is more important. It’s not that I tell him after a game, “You should have scored here or there”.
‘The boys know that in the moment. It happens. It’s a normal process.’
Liverpool’s season continues on Monday night with a clash with Crystal Palace at Anfield, opponents Mane had much fun playing, scoring 10 goals in nine consecutive games against the Eagles.
‘Sadio scored three against us when he played for Southampton, but it is not that he scored every week,’ Klopp added on how Diaz can replicate Mane’s form.
‘The consistency came with the confidence, with the teammates and with the structure of our game. That is what we are working on. The way we play should help strikers.
‘He [Diaz] obviously has the quality and the potential. He just needs one goal and then we will go from there.
‘Of course, it is about whether it is in you or not, but it’s the way we play, how we position the players, how we protect the players, where we win the balls back and how the boys can use their speed in these moments. They will be in a lot of goalscoring situations and that then makes you the player we remember.’
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