‘I like him a lot’: Michael Owen reacts to Nicolas Jackson and Ibrahima Konate battle

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Michael Owen praised Nicolas Jackson and his battle with Ibrahima Konate during Chelsea’s 1-1 draw against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

The former Liverpool striker added that ‘I like him a lot’, as he praised Chelsea’s summer signing for how he dealt with Ibrahima Konate, including ‘pushing him away’ at one point, as he told Premier League Productions (13/08/23 at 6:50 pm). 

Nicolas Jackson didn’t get on the scoresheet, but he faired well against two top, top Liverpool centre-backs – Konate and Virgil van Dijk.

The 22-year-old had his moments and he didn’t shy away from running at Liverpool’s backline during an energetic and pretty even opening Premier League encounter between the two.

It could be argued that Mauricio Pochettino’s side were the better team during the second period, with Mohamed Salah having a goal disallowed for offside in the first period, as well as hitting the bar – Owen was left stunned by his first-half assist that opened the scoring.

Nonetheless, for Jackson, after his £30 million transfer to Chelsea (Sky Sports), his first Premier League test was a big one and Owen liked what he saw. 

“I do think he will get double figures quite easily, if he plays on a regular basis,” said Owen. 

“There is a lot I like about him. He looked very, very sharp in America. His finishing was very precise.

“Even today, the way he moves across players. We saw him late on going against Konate. You think Konate hasn’t got the ball, he is running in a straight line and he cut across him, then pushed him away whilst doing it. I thought ‘wooo’.”

Jackson passes his first test

In terms of performance, Jackson produced a number of eye-catching moments and provided his new fans with the belief that he can hit double figures in the Premier League this season.

Whilst Liverpool have had their issues at the back during the past 12 months, their best centre-back pairing is Konate and van Dijk.

You can’t take much into yesterday’s game because nothing really stands out from the page, other than they have put a point on the board and they still need to dip into the transfer market to improve areas of their team.