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LIVERPOOL. — Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp believes every soccer team in the world would suffer without Sadio Mane after the Senegalese star marked his return with both goals in the 2-0 win over Tottenham on Saturday. Mane, back from a month on international duty at the African Cup of Nations, scored in a devastating first half performance at Anfield as Liverpool won their first English Premier League match in 2017.

“You need somebody on the end who scores and he did fantastically well,” said Klopp. “He could have scored a third one. “We missed Sadio in January but every team in the world would have missed him.”

Mane netted twice in three first-half minutes as Klopp’s team ended Spurs’ nine-game unbeaten run.

Klopp now hopes an enforced 16-day lay-off will allow his team to recover from their poor start to 2017 although he refused to entertain the possibility of catching runaway league leaders Chelsea who still have a 10-point lead on his team.

It would appear to be an impossible task for the Merseyside club to try and overtake Antonio Conte’s side, however, although Klopp refused to discuss it in any detail and rather looked at the forthcoming break his team can enjoy due to their recent exit from the FA Cup.

“What would you think about me if I said ‘I think we can get them?’” said Klopp. “I was really ambitious? Crazy?

“Maybe you can imagine, I’m not too interested in this at the moment.

“We finally started 2017 tonight so we shouldn’t go nuts immediately and talk about the rest, let’s take it step by step.

“Chelsea don’t look too much like they can struggle over several weeks and if somebody chases them, I don’t know if we will be there.

“But if they do struggle, there will be somebody there and we will just try to get as many points as we can and see what is possible.” — AFP