Conor Bradley and Ibrahima Konate of Liverpool high five during the warm up prior to the Premier League match between Manchester City and Liverpool at Etihad Stadium on November 09, 2025 in Manchester, England.placeholder image
Conor Bradley and Ibrahima Konate of Liverpool high five during the warm up prior to the Premier League match between Manchester City and Liverpool at Etihad Stadium on November 09, 2025 in Manchester, England. | Liverpool FC via Getty Images
Liverpool manager Arne Slot has one player he must replace in his starting XI when the international break comes to an end
The Reds beat Aston Villa and Real Madrid before their defeat against Pep Guardiola’s side but their momentum was halted with the loss at the Etihad Stadium. City were the better team but the result was not without controversy with Liverpool seeing a goal ruled out for a contentious offside call that perhaps could have changed the outcome.
However, the only thing that matters for Liverpool is the final scoreline and it is a result that all-but ends their hopes of retaining the Premier League title with just 11 games played. The Reds have lost five of their league matches this season and do not look like a side who are capable of going on a long-winning run that could put the pressure back on Man City and Arsenal.
Ibrahima Konate needs to be dropped
Liverpool have had several players who have not performed anywhere near their best this season. New signings Florian Wirtz and Milos Kerkez have not lived up to expectations but centre-back Ibrahima Konate has been well off the pace.
Against City, he was beaten in the air for Erling Haaland’s opener and for Jeremy Doku’s goal he was too easy to get away from as the Belgian shifted the ball onto his right foot away from Konate and curled home a stunning goal.
According to FotMob stats, Konate won just two of his five ground duels and only one of his three aerial duels. Slot is short of options at centre-back after Giovanni Leoni’s season-ending ACL injury but it is time for Joe Gomez to get a run back in the side when the international break gets back underway. Konate has become too unreliable this season and a run out of the team may benefit him.
Ibrahima Konate must be sold in January
There is also the issue of Konate’s contract at the club. He has yet to pen fresh terms and if a new deal isn’t agreed he must be sold in January. Marc Guehi has been strongly linked with Liverpool after a failed summer move while Alessandro Bastoni is another name linked with Anfield.
The Reds need to sort their defensive issues out quickly and pulling Konate out of the side is a possible way to rectify that.
"I’d like him to stay, but if he doesn’t stay, Liverpool will sign someone else. Liverpool won’t fall apart if Konate leaves," former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher told the Daily Mail when discussing Konate’s future.
"He's not Virgil van Dijk. He's a good centre-back who you hope will sign, but if he doesn’t want to sign, Liverpool will be absolutely fine.
"He's a very good centre-back, he's a title winner at Liverpool, he's played in the Champions League final against Real Madrid. He's obviously a quality centre-back.
"It's not poor management [if he goes for free]. You can't physically make somebody sign a contract. Then it's your decision, do you keep him to the length of his contract or do you sell him?"
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