Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has confirmed that Sadio Mane suffered a dead leg in his side’s 2-1 win at Chelsea on Sunday.
Mane, who has scored six goals this season, hobbled off in the second half at Stamford Bridge.
“It was a knock on the bone, around the knee, and a dead leg – that’s an awful combination,” Klopp said.
“He tried everything, but I think you saw, there was one counter situation when he really tried and I would say on a non-dead-leg day he will get that ball, but no chance.
“And then we say, ‘Come on, now we have to do it,’ and [substituted him]. That’s it.”
Goals from Trent Alexander-Arnold and Roberto Firmino earned Liverpool a 15th Premier League win on the bounce and restored their five-point lead over last season’s champions Manchester City.
Chelsea put up a fight in the second half, scoring through N’Golo Kante, but just fell short.
Their chances were hampered by injuries to Emerson and Andreas Christensen in the first half, meaning two substitutions on defensive players were used up early.
Blues manager Frank Lampard said: “Emerson is a similar injury to what he had, with a muscle. When you do that it means you have come back too soon.
“That is not a slight on Emerson, everyone wants to play this game to fair play. But those things shouldn’t happen.
“Christensen is a bang on the knee, which we need to assess. It was a shame to use up the two subs in the first half.
“I can’t give you any more than that – the doctor will assess. The first thought is that it’s not too bad, but we will see.”
