Nicklas Bendtner has taken aim at one Liverpool player who he accused of being ‘so slow on the ball’ and believes that the Reds would find an upgrade from within the Premier League.

The former Arsenal striker was speaking on the Stolpe Ind podcast when he gave a withering assessment of Ibrahima Konate, with the ex-Denmark international citing his compatriot Joachim Anderson of Crystal Palace as a superior centre-back.

The 36-year-old said of the Eagles defender: “Now, I like to make [a proposal] where we put him in Liverpool’s team instead of Konate. [Konate] is so slow on the ball and has no idea where to play it. There, you can argue for what he is doing there versus the fact that Joachim could play there.”

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Andersen – who’s lost just once in his four visits to Anfield with Fulham and Palace – was superb for the Eagles in their win away to Liverpool last Sunday, making a whopping 13 clearances for Oliver Glasner’s side (Sofascore).

It comes as no surprise that he ranks among the top 8% of centre-backs in Europe’s five main leagues for that particular metric over the past year, averaging 5.3 per game (FBref).

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Although the Denmark defender is someone we’d certainly welcome if he were to be linked with the Reds, we don’t go along with Bendtner’s criticism of Konate’s use of the ball.

The 24-year-old has the joint-fourth best passing success rate of anyone to start a Premier League match for Liverpool this season (WhoScored), while he’s among the 91st percentile of positional peers in Europe for progressive passes per 90 minutes with 5.54 (FBref).

In a post-Virgil van Dijk world at Anfield, we wouldn’t argue against a possible Andersen-Konate partnership at the back for LFC, but we wouldn’t be tossing the Frenchman out the door just to make way for the Palace defender, despite what Bendtner might say.

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The post ‘Put him in Liverpool’s team’ – Ex-Arsenal striker says EPL ace would be an upgrade on Reds 24y/o appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.

Kris Boyd appeared to do Alisson Becker a disservice with his verdict on the Liverpool goalkeeper’s stunning last-gasp save in the 2-1 win over Crystal Palace this afternoon.

After the Reds had come from behind to complete yet another comeback, the Eagles kept searching for a late equaliser in the 10th minute of stoppage time, when a deep free kick found Joachim Andersen just six yards out from goal, but somehow the Brazilian kept it out of his net.

It was the 31-year-old’s second spectacular stop in his first match back after a hamstring injury, although the Soccer Saturday pundit seemed more interested in admonishing the Denmark defender for not scoring.

Boyd lamented (via Sky Sports’ live web commentary, 14:31): “He should be scoring, he should be scoring. It’s a great ball in from Olise. He’s not offside. It’s a good save from Alisson but he shouldn’t have the opportunity to get there.”

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As good a chance as it was for Andersen, it must be viewed as a simply stupendous save from Alisson above anything else.

The best goalkeepers in the world come up trumps for their side when they’re needed the most, and that’s something the Brazilian has routinely done throughout his time at Liverpool.

By focusing on the Palace defender and only giving the Reds ‘keeper a token mention, Boyd is doing a disservice to the 31-year-old.

Even if his praise for the save was minimal, you can be sure that Alisson’s teammates and manager will be patting him heavily on the back for that heroic last-gasp intervention.

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Liverpool were chasing the game against Crystal Palace and sometimes the fine margins can decide a game like that, including a possible penalty for Mo Salah.

Supporters online have shared footage of our No.11 tussling with Joachim Andersen, where the Danish defender clearly had his arms around the Egyptian King and inside the Anfield penalty box.

Instead of falling to ground in an attempt to win a penalty, the 30-year-old tried to bring the high ball under control in his box but wasn’t able to.

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Watching the incident back, it does seem as though our forward should have had a penalty regardless but if he had gone to ground – it’s hard to see how it couldn’t be given his way.

You can watch the video of Salah and Andersen via @StatsSwearwords on Twitter:

Anderson just throws Mo, two handed, out of the way…. Inside the fucking box pic.twitter.com/rHah5RE2ya

— Simon (@StatsSwearwords) August 16, 2022

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Jurgen Klopp more than insinuated that Joachim Andersen manufactured Darwin Nunez’s poor response to a shove in the second-half of Liverpool’s draw against Crystal Palace.

Accusing the Dane of having ‘wanted that’ (the Uruguayan’s headbutt reaction), the German noted he would speak with his potentially record-breaking signing to make clear his thoughts on the matter.

The Reds will now be without the 23-year-old for their next three fixtures, including a visit to Old Trafford next week.

You can catch the clip below, courtesy of Empire of the Kop’s Twitter account:

Jurgen Klopp on Darwin Nunez's headbutt incident #LFC

"Andersen wanted that [Nunez's reaction] I would say and he got it." pic.twitter.com/N7Q7WziywC

— Empire of the Kop (@empireofthekop) August 15, 2022

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Whilst it has to be emphasised that Darwin Nunez’s violent conduct during the draw to Crystal Palace was inexcusable, it’s likewise difficult to deny that Joachim Andersen played a starring role in inciting the Uruguayan’s moment of madness.

Footage commented on by Football Transfers reporter Ronan Murphy was shared on Twitter displaying the Dane’s multiple attempts to wind up the £64m striker throughout proceedings at Anfield.

Evidently, the former Benfica hitman decided he’d had enough come the second-half of action, lashing out with a headbutt against the central defender.

You can catch the clip below, courtesy of @Transfersdotcom (via @swearimnotpaul):

Joachim Andersen is my new hero. https://t.co/KdGsdEDhFv

— Ronan Murphy (@swearimnotpaul) August 16, 2022

The post (Video) New footage shows Joachim Andersen repeatedly winding up Darwin Nunez before ill-advised headbutt reaction appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.