Ibrahima Konate enjoyed a fine game for Liverpool against Southampton, despite efforts to target him. The 22-year-old continues to impress.
Jurgen Klopp essentially named his best possible XI to face Southampton on Saturday. We initially thought that would be the case but the Liverpool boss hinted otherwise on Friday, suggesting that playing Wednesday-Saturday was too much for most.
And yet, he only really made one ‘rotation’ change. Joel Matip went to the bench, while Ibrahima Konate started alongside Virgil van Dijk.
That meant one thing for the Frenchman – Southampton would target him. After all, they’re hardly going to go after the world’s best centre-back.
So whenever the Saints pushed on, they tried to attack the right-hand side of Liverpool’s defence. That space in behind Trent Alexander-Arnold, where the relatively inexperienced Konate covers.
Unfortunately for them, the 22-year-old didn’t give them much to work with.
Ibrahima Konate for Liverpool vs Southampton
One stat sums up how Southampton went at Konate. He faced ten aerial battles in the game, while Van Dijk faced one.
But he actually dealt with that very well. He won 50% of his aerial duels, which is a solid enough number when you’re competing for that many.
The rest of Konate’s game was very solid, too. The defender went in for two tackles, winning both, and made three of Liverpool’s five interceptions in the game.
There were five clearances in there, too, while he completed 86% of his passes. That latter figure is particularly strong against what was a very high, effective press from Southampton.
In all, we’d probably say that this was Konate’s best game since Old Trafford and one of his absolute best in Red. He comfortably looked the part, even under some intense pressure.
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