Ibrahima Konate has been praised by the Italian media after his performance for Liverpool against Napoli on Tuesday night.
Liverpool took on Napoli on Tuesday with the Anfield crowed desperate to see a win.
The Reds had lost to Leeds United on Saturday night and Liverpool fans haven’t been used to seeing home defeats in recent times.
Liverpool came up with a strong 2-0 win as Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez struck late on to hand Napoli their first defeat of the season.
Ibrahima Konate has been praised
Jurgen Klopp will be delighted with the win after losing to Leeds, but will of course be aware of Liverpool’s up-and-down form this season.
One factor that will really please Klopp is the clean sheet.
Klopp brought in Ibrahima Konate for Joe Gomez, partnering him up with Virgil van Dijk in the heart of Liverpool’s back line.
Gomez has been inconsistent of late and Konate was in need of first-team minutes after a frustrating season to date.
The Frenchman has started just one game this season having suffered an injury in pre-season and then another injury last month.
Konate came in for much-needed playing time against Napoli and turned in a strong performance.
The 23-year-old made a strong case to be picked ahead of Gomez moving forward.
Konate and Van Dijk formed a promising partnership last season and with Gomez a little to erratic and Joel Matip injured, the door is open for Konate.
The former RB Leipzig defender certainly impressed the Italian media as Tuttomercatoweb rated Konate as Liverpool’s joint-best player alongside Curtis Jones and Mohamed Salah.
They marvelled at Konate’s ‘physical strength and pure speed’, suggesting that he continues to have a ‘superb performance’ even after picking up a yellow card.
The challenge for Konate now is to stay fit and make sure he’s available on a regular basis as he could become Liverpool’s first-choice partner to Van Dijk very soon.
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