After Crystal Palace shocked Liverpool to hand Arne Slot’s side their first defeat of the season, Chris Sutton took aim at one star who is making “mistake after mistake”.
Slot: Liverpool “deserved” Crystal Palace defeat
After being forced to win late on in six of their seven games prior to travelling to Selhurst Park, it’s fair to say that Liverpool’s position as unbeaten table-toppers didn’t paint the whole picture. The Reds have been vulnerable all season, they’ve just had the attacking talent and mentality to avoid matching results with underwhelming displays.
Unlike Arsenal, Bournemouth and Atletico Madrid, however, Crystal Palace were in no mood to let Slot’s side off the hook. Even after Federico Chiesa thought he had salvaged a point from the bench late on once again, it was the Eagles who had the final say – netting a last-gasp winner courtesy of Eddie Nketiah.
“Palace have a few threats. Set-pieces are one of them but counter-attacks and balls in behind are number two and three, and from all these situations they’ve created a lot of chances.
“What I said, we were able to create quite a lot against a Palace team which hardly ever concedes a chance, but when you look at the first half they totally deserved to win. In the second half I think it was a much better performance from us. If one team deserved to win today, I think it was Palace.” (Slot on Palace defeat)
It was a frustrating day for almost every Liverpool player. Mohamed Salah once again fell short of his best form and endured another quiet game. Florian Wirtz continued to struggle as questions began to arrive about his impact after a big-money summer move, and Milos Kerkez also failed to impress.
Alas, none of those three felt the wrath of Sutton, who took aim at a different Liverpool star who had an afternoon to forget at Selhurst Park.
Sutton says Konate is “miles off it”
Taking aim at the Frenchman, former Chelsea and Celtic striker Sutton said that Ibrahima Konate has been “miles off it” and has been making “mistake after mistake” at Liverpool this season.
The BBC pundit told the Monday Night Club: “They just exploited Liverpool defensively. I think that the stuff about Konate, which Rory said, he’s making mistake after mistake.
“And it’s been, you know, that’s where he’s been consistent at the start of this season. You know, I think he’s been a brilliant player for Liverpool, but this season he has been miles off it. And he had a particularly poor game.”
It’s tough to argue with that verdict, either. Konate, on £70,000-a-week, was especially poor against Crystal Palace, making just one tackle and winning just two of his five ground duels. Jean-Philippe Mateta, meanwhile, took full advantage for the Eagles in dominant fashion.
With less than 12 months remaining on his current deal, the defender, who has been a regular under Slot, starting every game in 25/26, is likely to face similar questions to the ones sent Trent Alexander-Arnold’s way last season if his current form persists.
And given that Giovanni Leoni’s injury has left Liverpool with just three senior centre-backs, it’s fair to say that Slot could do without Konate’s current struggles.
