Most touches, tackles & interceptions: £60k-a-week Liverpool man was a force tonight

Add as preferred source on Google

Kostas Tsimikas had to be everywhere for Liverpool as they beat Nottingham Forest 1-0. The defender led his team in three stats.

Liverpool just about squeezed past Nottingham Forest at the City Ground this evening. The Reds had to ride their luck a little, however, as their hosts certainly found chances to score.

In fact, Forest had a golden opportunity just 90 seconds before Diogo Jota opened the scoring for Liverpool. Fortunately, they put it wide and failed to make the Reds pay for an earlier missed chance.

The Jota goal was a great one, though. He got on the end of a brilliant right-footed cross from Kostas Tsimikas – goal-poaching at its finest.

That was the best moment of the game but far from all Tsimikas did here. The Greek left-back was a force of nature for Liverpool.

Kostas Tsimikas for Liverpool

Tsimikas was more involved in this game than anyone, with his 89 touches leading the match. Forest’s press did a wonderful job of forcing Liverpool wide to their full-backs and while that usually means lots of the ball for Trent Alexander-Arnold, his absence put the ball at Tsimikas’s feet.

But it was more than that. Tsimikas also faced Forest attacks fairly frequently here – they chose to run at him, rather than Joe Gomez. That meant he finished with four tackles and four interceptions, both of which were match-highs for Liverpool.

Tsimikas also put in a couple of shots, completed a dribble and, of course, had that assist. It was an all-around performance that Liverpool needed, given how much went on down that flank.

It’s another sign of just how valuable the likes of Tsimikas are right now as the club fights on three fronts. They’re chasing a quadruple – something that’s only possible with squad depth. Tsimikas, in being able to adequately cover Andy Robertson and deliver performances like this, helps make it possible.

And for an £11.75m fee and £60k-a-week (per Spotrac), we’d consider Tsimikas to be a bargain. He certainly looked like one tonight.