Graeme Souness questions if Joe Gomez and Ibrahima Konate are ‘consistent enough’ to have key positions in a Liverpool team that aspires to win the Premier League title.
The Reds entered the weekend second in the standings through six fixtures with a two-point deficit to Manchester City. Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool side were also one of just four remaining unbeaten clubs. While only Pep Guardiola’s champions held a superior defensive record, too.
Liverpool have only conceded five goals through their opening fixtures, of which Konate has started in two and Gomez in three. Virgil van Dijk has only opened four fixtures after the 32-year-old’s suspension. Joel Matip has also started four and Jarell Quansah has started one.
Souness is concerned for Liverpool with Konate and Gomez
Konate started the season as Klopp’s preferred partner for Van Dijk against Chelsea and AFC Bournemouth. But the German then had to rotate his line-up against Newcastle United and Aston Villa after the 24-year-old’s muscular injury. He has not started the Frenchman since.
Gomez, meanwhile, has mostly featured as a right-back this season due to Trent Alexander-Arnold’s hamstring injury. His only start as a centre-half came at Anfield against Aston Villa. The 26-year-old also came on in just the 33rd minute at Newcastle after Van Dijk’s red card.
But, despite Klopp relying on Gomez and Konate at stages this season, Souness questions if they are the sort of centre-halves that Liverpool can rely on to win the Premier League title. The Reds icon has also questioned Matip’s continued fitness in his column for the Daily Mail.
“Jurgen can’t be sure Joel Matip will be consistently fit,” Souness declared. “I’m not sure Joe Gomez or Ibrahima Konate are consistent enough to hold that place in a team looking to win the Premier League and, ultimately, the Champions League.”
Klopp will hope Souness is wrong about Konate and Gomez
Matip started this term behind Konate in Klopp’s pecking order but came into the Liverpool line-up after the Frenchman’s injury. The 32-year-old is all too familiar with injuries, too. He only played in 14 Premier League games last term and, even worse, just 10 during 2020/21.
The 2021/22 campaign proved to be a huge outlier for recent years as Matip featured in 31 games. He only made nine outings in 2019/20 as Liverpool won the Premier League title. So, Souness is right and Klopp will hope his worries about Konate and Gomez do not prove true.
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