Southampton: Hasenhuttl must unleash Ibrahima Diallo against Liverpool | OneFootball

With their disheartening 2-1 defeat against Norwich City at the weekend now behind them, Southampton have a big task of taking on Liverpool at Anfield in their next Premier League outing at the weekend, who are coming off the back of a strong 4-0 win over Arsenal.

On the chalkboard

In terms of who Saints manager Ralph Hasenhuttl could pick to be in his starting XI to take on Jurgen Klopp’s side, one player that featured in the game at Carrow Road that should be in the team to face Liverpool is Ibrahima Diallo.

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For the match against Norwich, Hasenhuttl played Diallo as a right-midfielder when he usually plays in a more central role but still managed to deliver a good performance for the Saints showing his attacking and defensive capabilities.

During the match against Dean Smith’s side, Diallo managed to have 60 touches of the ball, complete 40 of the 47 passes he attempted with two key passes and one accurate cross, showing that he has what it takes to be a useful wide player for the team rather than just a central player.

In addition to this, Diallo did not sacrifice his defensive duties in the game by winning six duels and completing three tackles.

Overall, this performance in a fairly unfamiliar position earned the 22-year-old, who has been praised by Hasenhuttl for showing the “quality” the player has earlier this season, an overall match rating of 6.7/10 according to SofaScore.

Would you start Diallo against Liverpool?

Yes

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No

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Not only should Diallo be in the starting XI to face Liverpool at the weekend, he could potentially give the Merseyside club a lot of problems if he’s able to frustrate their attacking players with his defensive qualities but also cause their defence some nightmares as well if he’s able to make the most out of any attacking scenarios they may get in the match.

Given how the Reds have managed to score more league goals than any other side, with 35 scored in 12 games, it’s safe to say Southampton will have to be a defensively strong as possible if they are going to have any opportunity of securing a positive result. However, by including Diallo in the team, they certainly stand a chance of causing an upset.