I hope Sadio Mane is playing as I want to play against the best, proclaims Sepp van den Berg
Liverpool player Sepp van den Berg who is on loan at Preston North End is excited to face Sadio Mane as he wants to face the best players in the world when he squares up against his parent team in the Carabao Cup. The Merseyside club faces Preston at Deepdale in the fourth round of the competition.
Van den Berg joined Liverpool in the summer of 2019 from PEC Zwolle for a fee of £1.3 million which could potentially rise to £4.4 million if certain clauses are achieved by the 19-year-old. The Dutch right-back joined Championship side Preston North End on loan for the remainder of the 2020-21 season on February 1. His loan spell was extended for an additional 12 months as he remains at the club for the duration of the current campaign.
In an ironic twist of events, the 19-year-old is set to face his parent club in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup. The Netherlands Under-21 international was allowed to play against Liverpool with Jurgen Klopp granting him special permission to feature against his side. The young defender is excited to face off against Sadio Mane in their fixture on Wednesday. Mane has made a great start to the season for the Merseyside club as he has scored six goals in 12 appearances across all competitions. Van den Berg is looking forward to the occasion and wants to test himself against the best players in the world.
“I’m looking forward to it. It’ll be a little strange, maybe, because I know them all, but who knows, maybe that will help me! I watched the game on Sunday and saw that Sadio was on the bench. The first thing I thought was ‘he might be playing against us!’. I want to play against the best team they can put out! Obviously, I know it’s not going to be the same team against United, but I hope Sadio is playing,” Van den Berg told Goal.
“As a player, you want to play against the best. That’s the way to test yourself and show yourself. If he plays, I can see how much I’ve grown since the last time I played against him,” he added.