Ibrahima Konate will start the Champions League final for Liverpool against Real Madrid in Paris on Saturday night.
At least, that’s the view of Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has a genuine dilemma when it comes to team selection, particularly in central defence.
Virgil van Dijk is guaranteed to start but whether the Reds boss includes Konate or Joel Matip to play alongside the towering Dutchman remains to be seen.
Matip started the final three years ago when Klopp’s side beat Tottenham Hotsput 2-0.
But in order to combat the pace of Vinicius and Karim Benzema, Merson, speaking to Sportskeeda, believes that the Liverpool manager will axe the Cameroon international in favour of Konate.
He said: “I believe Ibrahima Konate will get the nod as he’s better equipped to deal with Benzema and Vinicius due to his pace and strength. Joel Matip is a fantastic player in his own right and is arguably the best at playing out from the back among the Liverpool center-halves, but stylistically, Konate is a better fit for this game.”
Liverpool haven’t lost a game that Konate has started in across any competition this season, following his £36 million move from Leipzig last summer.
But Stephen Warnock slammed him for a mistake which led to Wolves scoring at Anfield last week, while Jermaine Jenas labelled the 22-year-old as ‘very clumsy‘ after almost conceding a penalty in the FA Cup final a fortnight ago.
We’re beginning to see flaws in the big Frenchman’s game, whereas although Matip isn’t as quick, there is an arguement to be made that he’s a safer and more experienced option.
In any case, both Matip and Konate have each started seven Champions League games for Liverpool in the build-up to the final, so no matter what happens Klopp will have to be unfair to one of them.
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