With the support of their devoted Anfield faithful, Arne Slot’s Liverpool cruised to a 2-0 victory over Thomas Frank’s Brentford in the opening match of the new Premier League season.
The Reds kept the visiting Bees to only two shots on goal, but they could have won by a larger margin if they hadn’t kept Mark Flekken’s goal consistently busy.Thankfully, Mohamed Salah remained onside well into the second half and scored a goal to seal a simple victory, but the game-winning performance came from Luis Diaz, who ran the opposite wing.
The statistical performance of Luis DiazAlthough he had three shots on goal against the Tractor Boys in the first Premier League match away at Ipswich Town, Luis Diaz was present for today’s test at home.A well-executed counter-attack culminated in the blistering Colombian winger ripping a shot past the Bees number one, putting any early concerns at Anfield to rest. He had the same amount of shots reported against Flekken, but this time he converted.
In addition to that crucial first goal, the energetic Reds number seven was clinical with the ball in his hands, completing all forty-one touches without a single miss. He also showed resilience when called upon, winning six ground duels, and then unleashed a jumbled assault on goal.
Slot would have been pleased with the South American forward’s individual performance when he was playing at full speed; he was nearly gifted an assist to make the scoreline more emphatic, and he was substituted off for Cody Gakpo in the 72nd minute so that Gakpo could have some playing time up top.
Aside from the entertaining offensive performance as a whole, Liverpool’s superb defensive performance against Brentford was due in large part to Ibrahima Konate, who was outstanding in the center of defense.
the numerical performance of KonateVirgil Van Dijk and Jarell Quansah started for the Reds in their opening match against Kieran McKenna’s men in Suffolk. Konate was substituted in during halftime to give the team a much-needed defensive boost, and they went on to win 2-0.
Finally, today, the French center back continued his stellar play throughout the uncomplicated 90 minutes, adding another clean sheet to his reel of 24/25.Looking at Konate’s impressive stats from the game, as shown in the table above, it is clear that the former RB Leipzig player has fully embraced his role as the second center-back alongside Van Dijk. He managed an impressive 73 accurate passes, the most of any Liverpool shirt, and had a perfect record in duels, winning four out of four with bravery.
Because of Konate’s commanding performance, Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa had little opportunities to score; whenever they did, it was usually to thwart an opening before it could cause serious problems, typically following a failed breakaway surge forward.