Klopp relieved main man Mane's back

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said Sadio Mane's absence would be felt by any team in the world after the Senegalese star marked his return with both goals in the 2-0 win over Tottenham at Anfield on Saturday.

Mane, back from a month at the Africa Cup of Nations, scored in a devastating first-half performance to earn the Reds their first Premier League win of 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 streak.

Klopp now hopes an enforced 16-day layoff will allow his team to recover from its poor start to the year although he refused to entertain the possibility of catching runaway leader Chelsea, which had a 10-point advantage on Liverpool even before the Blues played on Sunday.

It is a huge ask for the Merseyside club to reel in Antonio Conte's men, and Klopp preferred to focus on the break his team can enjoy due to its FA Cup exit.

"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."

Defeat to second-tier Wolverhampton Wanderers in the FA Cup means Liverpool will not play again until Feb 27, when it travels to struggling champion Leicester.

Either side of the visit of Burnley, Liverpool face huge tests at home to Arsenal on March 4 and away to Manchester City on March 19.