Jamie Carragher makes ‘Sadio Mane’ comment after what Liverpool star did vs Chelsea

Luis Diaz’s opening goal had ‘shades of Sadio Mane’ according to Jamie Carragher who commented on Liverpool’s Premier League opening game against Chelsea.

Diaz’s first half goal saw Jurgen Klopp’s side take the lead after a dominating start, but they fell to a 1-1 draw following Axel Disasi’s equaliser in what was a tough start against Mauricio Pochettino’s new-look Blues.

The Colombian attacker missed the majority of last season with a serious knee injury, but returned late on in the season. That allowed him to enjoy a strong pre-season to give him the best chance at rediscovering his previous form, and beginning with a goal at Stamford Bridge is certainly a positive start.

It was Mohamed Salah who provided a key assist, as it was his stunning ball that split the Chelsea defence open on the counter-attack as Diaz slid in to fire past Robert Sanchez. It was part of a brilliant move that started with Alisson Becker, before debutant Alexis Mac Allister provided a brilliant long ball that fell perfectly for the Egyptian.

On commentary, alongside Gary Neville and Peter Drury, Carragher commented that the goal reminded him of the link-up we saw over five years between Sadio Mane and Salah. The pair terrorised Premier League defences and were particularly ruthless on the counter-attack.

We saw a similar goal from Salah and Mane against Watford back in 2021 during their 5-0 away victory; Salah fired in a brilliant outside of the boot ball that found Mane powering through on goal to fire in the opener. Another example is the strike against Manchester City, during their 2-2 draw in April 2022.

Salah broke inside on the right and played in a brilliant ball for the oncoming Mane, who had made the run off the back of Kyle Walker - it’s a tried and tested route to goal for Salah. And considering Diaz has already found that chemistry in the opening bodes well for Liverpool.

For Diaz, he has the perfect player to emulate and study in Mane. Both are exceptionally quick off the mark, both are dribblers who enjoy committing defenders and both are ridiculously direct. He arrived from Porto in a big money move, just a few months older than Mane was when he arrived at Anfield in 2016.

The comparisons were always going to be drawn as they play in the same position, but it’s clear that Diaz is in a far different side to the one that Mane enjoyed winning seven trophies with.

Now, Diaz has competition for his position with Diogo Jota, Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo, but he is clearly Klopp’s first-choice in that position. It would be interesting to see what type of numbers he could produce with a season without injury, given he had a six-month-spell when he joined in January and last season was spoiled due to the seven-month lay-off - only time will tell.