Klopp: Mane finally believing he is an elite player

Cape Town - Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp believes Sadio Mane's impressive start to the new season is down to his growing belief in his own abilities as a footballer.

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The Senegal international has already bagged three goals in only two Premier League outings this season. He scored a brace in the 4-0 win over West Ham United before adding another in the 2-0 win over Crystal Palace.

Klopp is delighted to see Mane hit his stride so early in the campaign and reckons it's because he has more self-confidence.

"He's much more secure that this is his level," Klopp told the press.

"The players surprise themselves sometimes. 'Wow, really? That's how good I am?!' We all need to show our best and get used to it.

"Sadio's a very consistent player for us. His work-rate is great.

"We have a very strange 4-5-1 formation with Sadio as a midfielder, Bobby [Firmino] being a midfielder more or less and Mo [Salah] being a striker, even though he plays in a little different position.

"We talk about the defensive work-rate they put in. That's really important.

"It's quality. We have to make sure we can show that every week. Who scores the goals is not too important, but it was very important for us and very nice for him that he could do it in the last game."