Jurgen Klopp made five changes to his Liverpool line-up this evening from the 1-1 draw against Arsenal last Saturday, and one of those who came into the team more than justified his manager’s faith.
Despite a fantastic performance at the weekend, Ibrahima Konate was consigned to the bench for the 2-0 win over Burnley on Boxing Day, with Jarell Quansah coming in to partner Virgil van Dijk at centre-back.
The 20-year-old has been an astounding find from the Reds’ academy ranks this season, and he further underlined his ‘rising star’ billing with his performance at Turf Moor.
As per Sofascore, the youngster won nine of his 12 duels against the Clarets (second only to Joe Gomez among Liverpool players) and completed a joint-high 95 passes (equal with Van Dijk) out of 109 attempted, a success rate of 87%.
Quansah was also alert to thwart one of the very few openings that Burnley created this evening, getting a vital touch to the ball to deny Zeki Amdouni a clear run at goal during the second half at a stage where the Reds were only 1-0 to the good and the match was very much in the balance.
For a player who only made his competitive senior LFC debut four months ago, the defender has been remarkably composed at such a high level, making the most of the substantial exposure he’s received in the Europa League and Carabao Cup in particular.
If the centre-back can continue to excel with each passing appearance – and everything he’s shown so far suggests that he will – he’ll save Liverpool the need to go shopping for a marquee player in that position, for they may already have the makings of one brewed at home.
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