After another dominant defensive display during Wednesday's 2-0 Champions League semi-final victory over Villarreal, things couldn’t have been more different to last year for Liverpool. In the same competition, the Reds meekly exited 3-1 on aggregate at the quarter-final stage to Real Madrid.
In both legs they had Nathaniel Phillips and Ozan Kabak at centre-back, symptomatic of the nightmare campaign injury wise it was for Liverpool’s defenders. Across the season, they tried 20 different centre-back partnerships as they battled with the worst injury crisis in Jurgen Klopp’s tenure at Anfield and struggled with form.
Wednesday’s victory was poignant as it was another dominant display from £35m summer signing Ibrahima Konate. Liverpool now arguably have the best centre-back options of any European club. Along with Konate, Virgil van Dijk has been his sensational self this season after recovering from a serious knee injury. Joel Matip is in the form of his life and Joe Gomez, who looked to be England’s future before his serious injury last season, is further in reserve.
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This is a far cry from relying on Phillips, Kabak and Rhys Williams. They made 52 appearances between them last season. This was in comparison to Matip, Van Dijk and Gomez appearing just 32 times. Their defensive struggles were evident as the club conceded 42 goals in the league. This was compared to 22 in 2018/19 and 32 in 2019/20.
With Van Dijk a cert, and Liverpool facing potentially two finals and five huge Premier League games over the next month, Klopp has a huge decision to make on who to partner the Dutchman with. Prize money for winning the Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup totals £172m so it is not one the German can take lightly.
Over the course of this campaign, Matip has appeared 38 times and Konate 23. Matip has generally appeared in the Premier League with 28 appearances compared to Konate’s eight. However, the Frenchman has been preferred in cup competitions, an ever-present in the Reds’ run to the FA Cup final and he has appeared in six of their last seven Champions League ties. He has only played in one of the past 13 Premier League games.
Konate has impressed more and more as the season has progressed and Liverpool are yet to lose when he has played. The fact the Frenchman is putting pressure on Matip and is going to force Klopp into such a tricky call is testament to his impressive displays. His strength and recovery pace are superb. He has played six times in the Champions League compared to Matip’s seven appearances. In the competition per game he averages more tackles (2 to 1.1), interceptions (1.7 to 0.9), clearances (2.3 to 2.1) and blocks (0.5 to 0.1) than the Cameroonian.
Against Villarreal whenever the Spanish side committed players forward, the threat was swiftly snuffed out. They had just one shot and Konate made two tackles, two clearances, one interception and won the ball back for Liverpool 11 times. His 6ft 4inch size has also helped make him a nuisance at set pieces and he has scored three in his last four appearances.
Klopp’s ability to rotate his squad and the depth at Liverpool this season has been well-publicised but this has been key in defence. With Matip‘s injury history, the opportunity to swap defenders has enabled him to have arguably his best season in a Liverpool shirt and stay injury free. Older than 22-year-old Konate at 30, Matip’s ability to progress the ball up the pitch, his lung-busting runs and his top quality defensive acumen have helped Liverpool accumulate 21 clean sheets in the Premier League. He has become a cult hero among fans but his performances often go under the radar and don’t get the wider recognition they deserve.
Earlier this season Klopp said: “I cannot help people who don’t see the quality of Joel Matip. He was a bit unlucky in the past with an injury here and there - maybe not always the most difficult things but he is a big boy and it can look, from time to time, a bit edgy or whatever. But he is an incredible player.”
Matip is fully aware of the competition and ahead of Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Everton he was full of praise for Konate. He said: “Ibra did it great, so no reason why he should not play also, especially with my history of injuries, it also fitted quite good with my situation.”
With Gomez a fourth choice centre-back option and young prospects such as Sepp van den Berg, who is set to return from a productive 18-month spell at Preston, Rhys Williams, Billy Koumetio and one of last season's heroes and current Bournemouth loanee Nathaniel Phillips lurking in the background, there is no doubt Liverpool’s defensive options are a lot healthier than this time last year.
Whoever Klopp decides to partner with van Dijk in crunch fixtures across the rest of the season, the German will not need to worry about their reliability - 12 months ago things looked bleak for Liverpool in the centre-back department but now their options couldn’t be healthier.
