Liverpool legend Steve Nicol believes that Sadio Mane has been in scintillating form since Christmas and admits that the attacker reminds him of former Red Raheem Sterling.
Jurgen Klopp’s men progressed through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League with a 3-1 win over Bayern Munich powered by a brace from Mane on Wednesday at the Allianz Arena.
The Senegalese forward opened the scoring in the 23rd minute and added another in the 84th minute after Virgil van Dijk had edged Liverpool ahead following Joel Matip’s own goal in the first half.
Mane has now netted 10 goals from his last 10 appearances in all competitions since December and Nicol has credited the forward for his scintillating display during that time.
The Reds legend thinks that Mane has shades of former Liverpool star Raheem Sterling, especially in the aspect that he could be inconsistent.
“In some ways, Mane kind of reminds me of [Raheem] Sterling a little bit”, Nicol said on the ESPN FC show.
“I think we all know his flaws and one of his biggest flaws was his inconsistency because I don’t think he was quite sure what he was going to do, never mind the defenders or anybody else.
“But I think no question from Christmas on, this guy has been on fire.”
Nicol also insisted that after improving his touch and finishing in the last few months, Mane is the main man in attack for Liverpool at this moment in time.
“He actually looks as though he is thinking about it, his touch has got better, his finishing has got better so absolutely, he is Liverpool’s man right at this minute in time as far as attacking play is concerned”, he added.
Mane took his goal tally to 19 from 37 appearances in all competitions so far this season, after the brace against Bayern Munich.
