8 months ago
131 Steve Nicol believes that Manchester City are on course to beat Liverpool on Sunday should the Reds be missing their 24-year-old star at Anfield.
With Arsenal winning on Saturday, the pressure on both Liverpool and Manchester City has only increased. It is also potentially the final time Jurgen Klopp will manage against Pep Guardiola as Liverpool boss.
Unfortunately for Liverpool, they continue to deal with plenty of injuries. Trent Alexander-Arnold and Diogo Jota are amongst those who remain sidelined. And there looks to be more than a question mark over the fitness of Ibrahima Konate.
Liverpool facing huge blow amid Ibrahima Konate doubts
Konate continues to be assessed after coming off in Thursday’s Europa League win over Sparta Prague. Obviously, the Frenchman has had to deal with a few issues since his arrival on Merseyside.
Konate has been outstanding alongside Virgil van Dijk this season. And speaking on ESPN, Steve Nicol explained that not having the former RB Leipzig star could have a massive impact on the result today.
“Do you know, I think the Konate thing is really important. I think it’s the difference between Liverpool getting something from this game and not getting anything, because they’re going to have to be at their very best,” he said.
“Because there is no doubt that Liverpool are going to press the ball high. And if they’re on their game and they can do that successfully, then they may win the game. But if they don’t do that successfully, then there’s going to be a lot of space for City to run into and run at Liverpool’s backline. And so, the fact that Konate almost certainly isn’t going to be there is a huge problem.
“That’s the reason I’ve gone from Liverpool getting a result to Man City actually winning this game.”
Reds won’t lack belief at Anfield
Manchester City have not been at their best for much of this season. They needed a Phil Foden masterclass to turn around the Manchester derby last weekend.
Meanwhile, Liverpool’s fans know how special some of the younger players coming through are. Certainly, Jarell Quansah looks like a first-team player already. And he is not a bad understudy to come in if Klopp decides to go that way.
Liverpool came through the Carabao Cup final when the situation appeared to be somewhat bleak.
Obviously, Manchester City are a different animal to Chelsea. But some incredible things have happened at Anfield over the years.
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