Steve Nicol believes that if Ibrahima Konate is injured for Liverpool, Manchester City will beat them 3-2 on Sunday.
Much of the talk around the contest between the Premier League’s two heavyweights has been based on City’s woeful record at Anfield, winning just twice at the stadium since 2003.
However, during Liverpool’s latest 5-1 thrashing of Sparta Prague in the Europa League, they suffered yet another injury blow, with Ibrahima Konate having to be hooked off in the 50th minute.
After the contest, Jurgen Klopp admitted (via Liverpool’s official website) that he was unsure whether the £36 million (Sky Sports) man will be in contention to face City.
Steve Nicol backs Manchester City to beat Liverpool 3-2 if Ibrahima Konate is injured
On the other hand, Pep Guardiola has a fully fit defence to pick from, with every one of John Stones, Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias, Manuel Akanji, Nathan Ake and Josko Gvardiol being available for selection.
The last time these two sides faced in November during a tightly-contested 1-1 draw, Stones was injured.
As Ibrahima Konate could now be unavailable for Liverpool, Steve Nicol has backed Manchester City to come out on top in the potential title decider.
“I think the [Ibrahima] Konate thing is really important. I think it’s the difference between Liverpool getting something from this game and not getting anything because they are going to have to be at their very best because there is no doubt that Liverpool are going to press the ball high and if they’re on the game and then they can do that successfully, they may win the game”, he said [via ESPN FC].
“But if they don’t do it successfully, then there’s going to be a lot of space for City to run into and run at Liverpool’s backline. And so, the fact that Konate almost certainly isn’t going to be there is a huge problem. That’s the reason why I’ve gone from Liverpool getting a result to Man City actually winning the game.”
Before Nicol’s claim, it was shown that he had predicted the visitors to beat the hosts 3-2.
Huge bonus for Manchester City if the Frenchman is unavailable
In our view, Steve Nicol raises an important point as Ibrahima Konate is an incredibly important figure in the Liverpool backline and his potential absence could give Manchester City the edge.
The former RB Leipzig defender is one of the best channel defenders in the world and if he indeed does not start, City could well and truly wreak havoc on their right-hand side, especially with young Conor Bradley looking likely to start.
Much like during the Manchester Derby, perhaps Pep Guardiola may be tempted to shift Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden, his best two creators to the left-hand side to exploit Liverpool’s weakness down that side if Ibrahima Konate fails to start.
All eyes will be on whether Konate starts proceedings or not as the world awaits to see the lineups both Guardiola and Klopp pick.
