OPINION
It’s been a long time coming, but when Naby Keita finally got his opportunity to start for Liverpool in the Premier League this season against Bournemouth on Saturday, he seized it firmly with both hands. A goal and an assist from the Guinean midfielder in the 3-0 victory will surely have been enough to have supporters wondering why he hasn’t been given his shot in Jurgen Klopp’s starting XI sooner than this. The 24-year-old showed all of that intelligence, work rate, and quality that convinced the Reds to make a big money move for him in the first place, and on the basis of this display, he should be getting plenty more chances to prove himself in the very near future too. Of course, anybody who has seen him play in the Champions League this season will know that he had something like this in his locker. In Europe this season Keita has averaged a pass completion rate of 93.2%, as well as 2.3 successful dribbles per game, as per Whoscored, and he brought every ounce of that creativity against the Cherries on Saturday. Hopefully this can be a turning point for Keita’s Liverpool career and he can start to get minutes under his belt consistently.
Live 4 Liverpool have gathered some of the best tweets below:
Naby Keita has been our best player.
— Samue (@SamueILFC) December 7, 2019
Naby been absolute boss, great to see
— Harry (@PattersonXxv) December 7, 2019
Naby showing his class
— Owen Keeble (@OwenKeeble95) December 7, 2019
Naby starts – Goal and Assist. Imagine my shock
— Tom (@TomBrownrigg200) December 7, 2019
Naby when he’s allowed attacking freedom is a killer.
— ? (@_triplebeam) December 7, 2019
Magic Keita. ??
Salah finishes an exquisite pass from Naby!! ?? https://t.co/ZAQMw9g49N
— Mazi Nedu ? (@DaviiidWhite) December 7, 2019
Take it Naby is having a stormer. @_Chris_Hurst_
— Anfield Effect (@AnfieldEffect) December 7, 2019