Sadio Mane

Is there a better winger in the world right now than Sadio Mane?

The only ones who can match his attacking output this season (rated 96 at LW) are Riyad Mahrez at Manchester City, Serge Gnabry at Bayern Munich, and Hakim Ziyech at Ajax – and none of them has played quite as many minutes in the league as Mane has. Not even Lionel Messi can match Mane for attacking output so far this season.

But how pivotal is Mane? Well, in the Premier League he's been involved in 62% of Liverpool's moves ending in a goal while on the pitch and 66% of their total expected goals (a measure of total chance quality). Both Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino have similar involvement figures. But in the Champions League, Mane has been even more influential, at 77% and 69%, respectively. Only Andrew Robertson has come close to those figures for Liverpool in Europe. Up front, Mane is Jurgen Klopp's European warrior.

It's also worth noting that Mane takes extremely high-quality shots for a winger, with an average estimated chance of scoring of 17% in the Premier League and 14% in the Champions League. Most of these shots are no further from goal than the penalty spot. Plus, Mane has been finishing his shots at an even higher clip – roughly one in five – boosting his shooting skill ratings to 61 for finishing non-headers in open play and 67 for headers in open play.

If there's a gap in Mane's game, it's that his performances away from home haven't been at the same level. He's expected to score every other match at home but only every three matches away. For all you fantasy players, this could make his Salah a more attractive option in away fixtures – he gets a goal roughly every other match regardless of traveling.

Is there another Mane waiting in the wings somewhere? We'll let you use our Search by similar player feature to find out... but we see a couple of South American 20-year-olds who may have great things ahead. And to answer the question on the first line above: apart from that 32-year-old guy named Messi who's probably past his prime, anyway – no, we don't think there is.

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[Photo: Mehdi Bolourian]