Luis Diaz, Alexis Mac Allister and Wataru Endo have scored for their countries in recent days, but the international break hasn’t gone well for every Liverpool player so far.
Centre-back Ibrahima Konate has returned to the Liverpool team in the two most recent Premier League games, after largely being a substitute in the latter days of Jurgen Klopp’s reign, then being named on the bench again for Arne Slot’s first match in charge at Ipswich Town.
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Jarell Quansah started that game at Portman Road, but Konate came on for the 21-year-old at half-time with the match still goalless, helping Liverpool to ultimately secure a 2-0 victory.
Konate then started in the 2-0 home win over Brentford, and the 3-0 triumph at Manchester United, to ensure that the Reds started the season with a 100 per cent record, without conceding a single goal.
Defender gets Les Bleus start
That was enough for France boss Didier Deschamps to also hand Konate a recall at international level.
The Liverpool defender was an unused substitute for all six of France’s matches at Euro 2024, with Dayot Upamecano preferred in the centre of defence alongside Arsenal’s William Saliba.
Upamecano was only named on the bench for France’s opening fixture in the Nations League though, with Konate instead handed a starting spot at home to Italy in Paris.
Bournemouth v Liverpool Premier League 21/01/2024. Ibrahima Konate 5 of Liverpool during the Premier League match between Bournemouth and Liverpool at the Vitality Stadium, Bournemouth, England on 21 January 2024. Bournemouth Vitality Stadium Dorset England Editorial use only DataCo restrictions apply See www.football-dataco.com , Copyright: xGrahamxHuntx PSI-18861-0191
Les Bleus then took the lead within a minute, but ultimately succumbed to a surprise 3-1 defeat, with suggestions that Konate might have done better for two of the goals.
In their match ratings, Le Parisien gave Konate just three out of 10, suggesting that the defender had given a ‘really insufficient performance’ and had ‘weakened the defence through very approximate positioning’. FootMercato also rated Konate at 3/10, with Maxifoot giving a slightly more generous 3.5, saying he put in a ‘disappointing’ display.
France now host Belgium in their next Nations League game on Monday, but Konate’s place could be under threat.
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