Liverpool’s 4-1 victory over Ipswich may have been a display of their attacking prowess, but behind their dominance in the final third was a rock-solid defence.
“Almost perfect” was Arne Slot‘s verdict after a 16th victory of the Premier League campaign, ensuring a double over Ipswich.
Dominik Szoboszlai, Mohamed Salah and, twice, Cody Gakpo found the back of the net, with Jacob Greaves’ late header the only blot on the copybook for Liverpool’s head coach.
While the final score was 4-1, in terms of xG the two sides’ chances were only deemed worth 1.98-0.41, which shows how clinical Liverpool’s goalscorers were.
The Reds converted all three of their big chances, and according to FotMob, it is the first time they have not missed a big chance in a game since the 3-1 win over Leicester on Boxing Day.
It is the only time Slot’s side have had three or more big chances in a game this season and not missed any.
But the defence gave them the platform
As good as Liverpool’s midfield and attack was, the performance of the centre-back pairing of Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate deserved just as much credit.
The visit of Ipswich brought a reminder of Slot’s brutal half-time substitution at Portman Road in August, when he replaced Jarell Quansah with Konate and explained after the game that “we lost too many duels” in the first half.
Between them on Saturday, Van Dijk and Konate won 18 of their 21 duels, with an 88.9 percent success rate when it came to aerial duels.
While Slot noted Quansah’s struggles up against the physical Liam Delap in the away fixture, no player lost more duels on Saturday than the Ipswich striker, who won only three of his 19 overall (15.8%) and one of six in the air (16.7%).
Delap touched the ball only 20 times, the least of any player to start the game bar Ipswich right-back Wes Burns, who played only 29 minutes due to injury.
Van Dijk (142) and Konate (139) were first and second when it came to touches, as well as both passes completed and passing accuracy – one of the Frenchman’s incisive passes teeing up Szoboszlai’s opener.
That it was a line-breaking ball from Liverpool’s No. 5 that set them on their way to 1-0 was certainly timely, given Slot highlighted it as an area for improvement pre-match.
“Defensively there’s not a lot he could or can improve,” Slot professed.
“But bringing the ball out from the back – which is not a single job, it’s also his teammates that he needs for that – was something we’ve worked on a lot and we still keep on working a lot.”
In total, Van Dijk played 28 passes into the final third and Konate 21, though interestingly the captain was considerably more accurate with his long passes (completing seven of eight, 87.5%) than his centre-back partner (two of seven, 28.6%).
That may demonstrate the next step Konate will need to take as he looks to reach Van Dijk’s level as the perfect centre-back.
But on Saturday’s evidence, Liverpool already have the next best thing alongside their No. 4.
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