Sadio Mane Insists Title Race Talk Is 'Too Soon' as Liverpool Suffer Early-Season Stutter

Sadio Mane is not concerning himself with talk of Liverpool possibly winning the Premier League title so early into the new campaign.

The pacy forward spoke exclusively to ESPN about a range of topics including his time with the Senegalese national side and how important it was that the Reds kept hold of Philippe Coutinho.

It is Mane's quotes on vying for the English top flight crown that are perhaps the most interesting to Liverpool supporters, and the 25-year-old explained why he was not thinking about a first league trophy for the club since 1990 just seven weeks into this term.

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He remarked: "Honestly, it is too early to talk about the title. We are not focused on other teams, just on ourselves, and we know we can beat any team in the league.

"These kind of results [no win in four games since the Arsenal victory] can happen in any team, but we will do our best to change the situation. We will try to take it game by game, and why not win it at the end?"

As Mane points out, Liverpool are currently in the midst of a four-match winless run with two draws and two defeats in all competitions - form that has put pressure on manager Jurgen Klopp.

Mane, however, is a firm believer that results wil improve for the Merseysiders and insisted that Liverpool's heralded attacking verve can help them pick up victories.

He continued: "Sometimes it can happen in football, but the most important thing is the reaction and it is important to do that. We have a great team and great qualities in the team, and I think we will do it [respond].

"That is what we are looking for and what we are working for every day in training. We are going to keep going to do that to try to help us win games."

The ex-Southampton star also commented on his national side's chances of qualifying for a first World Cup in 15 years.

Senegal and South Africa were told by FIFA to replay their qualifier after match-fixing from their first encounter, and that opportunity could allow La Teranga to play a part in Russia next summer - something that Mane is certainly craving.

He added: "It has been a very long wait, but we are hoping to go back at the end of this season. We are going to do our best. We are on a good way, so we are trying to change it."