Troy Deeney suggests one Liverpool player was even better than Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah vs Man City

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It seems like as long as Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk are fit and firing for Liverpool, they will continue to roll teams over as they did by beating Manchester City 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium.

However, Arne Slot will reject any notion about Salah and Van Dijk carrying the Reds’ Premier League title ambitions on their backs as it is clear to see that their success has been a team effort.

Slot even lauded Aaron Briggs, who is part of Liverpool’s coaching staff for crafting the innovative set-piece that led to the visitors’ opening goal on Sunday — which emphasises that their ascent this season has been down to the collective — including the staff behind the scenes.

As far as the Liverpool players, plenty of them stood out against Manchester City.

Jeremy Doku credited Liverpool’s defending and on the day, it is perhaps at the back where they well and truly stood out.

Ibrahima Konate named Liverpool’s best player vs Man City

Van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate had a crucial role to play in the Reds’ rock-solid display.

While the Liverpool pair were not necessarily challenged inside the box due to the diminutive Phil Foden playing as a false nine, they were always positioned correctly and cleared any signs of danger from Manchester City.

Troy Deeney named Konate as Liverpool’s only player in the BBC Sport Premier League Team of the Week after his commanding performance against City, hinting that the Frenchman stood out to him over his other teammates.

“I think it’s his first time in my team of the week. He was a beast, a monster, in the win at Manchester City. I was going to put Virgil van Dijk in but I think I give him too much love, but they were excellent against that City team. Well-marshalled and saying ‘come and break us down if you can’ but they never did.’

The former RB Leipzig centre-back is having yet another tremendous season, with Ollie Watkins naming Konate as “world-class” after Aston Villa’s 2-2 draw against Liverpool.

Konate is set to sign a new contract, which seems a wise decision from the Reds’ standpoint as he continues to grow from strength to strength — as he demonstrated by taming Manchester City’s attack most recently.

Konate stats compared to Virgil van Dijk vs Manchester City

Arne Slot would have been over the moon about the 25-year-old’s display.

As Konate bossed proceedings at the back alongside Van Dijk against Manchester City, here are the trio’s statistics.

Based on the numbers, the Dutchman was far more actively involved in keeping City’s attack quiet, making more blocks, clearances and tackles than his partner.

However, it is clear to see that both defenders were tested quite a lot by Manchester City.

But game after game, Konate and Van Dijk are proving that they are arguably the best centre-back pairing in the English top-flight.

Once again, the dynamic duo made Liverpool’s defence an impossible job for Manchester City to breach.