'They are your standouts' - Crouch tips Liverpool duo Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane for Ballon d'Or glory

Peter Crouch has backed Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah as top contenders for the Ballon d’Or as the two aim to help Liverpool achieve an unprecedented quadruple. The African duo went head-to-head earlier in the year as Senegal took on Egypt in the Africa Cup of Nations final. Ad/> Mane missed a penalty early in the match, but he redeemed himself in the penalty shootout after extra-time, scoring the decisive and final penalty to secure his country’s first AFCON.

Champions League'I would be really angry' — Klopp denies Liverpool complacency ahead of Villarreal CL second leg16 HOURS AGO For club, the duo have already won the Carabao Cup after Liverpool triumphed over Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea at Wembley Stadium. Liverpool are looking to build on this season’s trophy haul. They’ll face Chelsea again in the FA Cup final next week and are currently one point behind Manchester City in the league with four match weeks to go.

Tonight, they’ll hope to finish off Villarreal in the Champions League semi-final, with the Reds 2-0 up on aggregate. Both Mane and Salah have greatly contributed to Liverpool’s success this season since signing with the club. The two have 50 goals between them this season in all competitions, meaning they've scored about 37% of Liverpool's goals in 2021/22.

Earlier in the week, Jurgen Klopp unsurprisingly backed Sadio Mane should Liverpool go on and win the Champions League saying: “He's played an outstanding season.” Peter Crouch has backed Klopp’s assessment on the pair. Speaking to Paddy Power, the former England international and Liverpool player said. «Mane’s a great shout.