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Ibrahima Konate is inside the final year of his contract at Liverpool and while it isn’t a saga of the size that involved Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk last season, there is a decision to be made.
Right now, his future is in the balance. With no news yet of an agreement being put in place to get him tied down to an extension, showings like the one he put in against Crystal Palace will see him placed under scrutiny.
In the first half at Selhurst Park, Konate was all over the place. He wasn’t the only one — it was no shock that Conor Bradley didn’t appear for the second period — but the Frenchman looked like he was playing on skates.
Keep calm. Keep cool. Keep the ball and dominate. That’s the plan.
And yet so far this season, Liverpool has failed to keep control of games. It has never been far enough in front to make it an easy last few minutes and the form of some in its defense hasn't helped.
Even Federico Chiesa’s goal that pulled the sides level in South London on Saturday was scored in the 87th minute. The difference this time was that Nketiah netted even later.
If title winning teams are built on defenses, then Liverpool has work to do in order to get its position at the top of the table cemented.
Arsenal could cut the champions’ lead to just two points by beating Newcastle later this weekend. Had Liverpool won and the Gunners lost, it would have been eight.
As disappointing as not making that a possibility was, it also remains true that Liverpool has much more to come.
Florian Wirtz — given a free role in the first half that simply didn’t work — is yet to fully embed himself. Alexander Isak lasted the full 90 minutes but only, Slot said, because the game was “low intensity”.
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The new players signed in the summer market were always going to take time to bed in, while Mohamed Salah still hasn’t had his breakout performance in 2025/26 — and that will come.
In that context, and not least if Liverpool goes to Stamford Bridge and wins next weekend, it will still have been a strong start to the new season as a result.
Had Chiesa’s goal salvaged a point for Liverpool, it would only have papered over the cracks.
But sooner rather than later, the Reds — from back to front, and not just Konate — will have to start making life easier for themselves. Until they do, the full potential of Slot’s masterplan will be on hold.
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