Klopp: Any team would miss Mane and Salah

Jurgen Klopp

believes there is no team that would not miss

Mohamed Salah

and

Sadio Mane

, after the Reds felt their absence in their draw with

.

The duo and Naby Keita are playing for their country in the

.

Mane met the back of the net and helped his side win against Zimbabwe and on Friday, he and Guinea’s Keita will face when their sides meet.

Meanwhile, Salah was kept quiet as

were defeated 1-0 against Nigeria in their first game of the group stage. The forward, who met the target 23 times this season for Liverpool, managed only one attempt which hit the net in Monday’s battle.

The Reds boss would have preferred to have those two players on Thursday as Liverpool had a hard time against 10-man Arsenal in the semi-final of the EFL semi-final at Anfield.

Granit Xhaka was dismissed midway and Mikel Arteta changed to 5-3-1 system, which Reds were unable to break.

When asked whether the Reds could have been better prepared for their star players absence, Klopp replied:

"Any team would miss Salah, Mane and Keita.

"Could we be prepared for it? I don't think so.

"We've known that already for years. This team was what we had tonight, it can play and score, definitely."

Klopp takes his side to north London next week, knowing that the winner will face Chelsea in the final.

"

We weren't creative enough. We didn't do some things well enough but in the end it's 0-0, half-time [in the tie],"

he said.

"We don't think this tie is over for us. We will give it a proper try next Thursday."

If they make their way through a battle with Chelsea, Liverpool will focus on winning the EFL Cup.

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