Liverpool’s Naby Keita was in action for Guinea during their Africa Cup of Nations encounter against Nigeria on Wednesday.
Liverpool’s Naby Keita was criticised by some supporters for his performance during Guinea’s Africa Cup of Nations defeat against Nigeria on Wednesday.
The Liverpool midfielder played 71 minutes for his home country, who conceded two minutes after he went off, with the attack-minded player not being at his best.
It was mentioned by the supporters that Keita is half-fit, so that perhaps indicates as to why he was so lacklustre in the Group B encounter.
Prior to Wednesday’s encounter, Keita had not played for club or country since his club side were beaten by Barcelona at the Nou Camp in the Champions League last month – the Anfield faithful should remember the rest.
Nonetheless, considering Keita has hardly played in these last six weeks, it isn’t a surprise he couldn’t produce for his country, who have one point from their two games.
They face a fight to progress through to the knockout stages, with Keita’s Liverpool teammate, Mo Salah already helping his country to the next round.
Sadio Mane is also at the tournament with Senegal, as Jurgen Klopp should expect some of his players to return late for pre-season because they are participating in the AFCON’s.
Here is a selection of fans reacting to Keita’s performance during Guinea’s AFCON’s defeat:
Keita joined Liverpool last summer from German side RB Leipzig for a fee of £48 million [BBC Sport]. He had a bit of an indifferent campaign in his first season at Anfield.
Initially, he started off very well, but there were times when his form dipped, but in the end, he walked away with a Champions League medal to his name.
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