75% duels won: ‘Authoritative’ Liverpool beast was simply ‘outstanding’ against Bournemouth

One Liverpool player has been widely praised for his ‘outstanding’ performance in the Reds’ 1-0 win at Bournemouth on Sunday afternoon.

The only goal at the Vitality Stadium came from Alexander Isak in the 57th minute, with Cody Gakpo yet again providing the assist for the Swedish marksman, having done so for all four of his goals so far this season.

LFC’s number 9 will take the headlines for his match-winning moment, but the display from one of his teammates at the other end of the pitch certainly didn’t go unnoticed by journalists who were on duty on the south coast.

Jacquet comes in for plenty of praise

The Telegraph’s Dominic King posted on X: ‘Jeremy Jacquet has made the kind of quietly authoritative start to his Liverpool career that showed why there was such excitement in February within the club when they completed his deal. So much focus on so many players but Jacquet has never been anything other 7.5/8 out of 10.’

The Athletic’s James Pearce also praised the French defender on X, posting: ‘Liverpool go into the international break on a high after a gritty victory. Nowhere near their best but dug deep to get the job done. Jacquet outstanding at the back.’

The Liverpool Echo‘s Paul Gorst made a similar appraisal as he wrote: ‘Jeremy Jacquet has been outstanding so far at the back alongside Virgil van Dijk.’

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Jacquet has been first-class for Liverpool already

One of the standout features of the 21-year-old’s early Liverpool performances is his knack for putting in a goal-saving block, having done so against Nottingham Forest and Fulham, and he was at it again in the first half today when the game was goalless.

In the 36th minute, Alex Scott’s header exploited a gap in the Reds’ defence and Ryan Christie looked set to test Alisson Becker, but Jacquet raced across to throw himself at the ball and eliminate the danger.

The Frenchman was a colossal figure for Andoni Iraola’s team at the back today, and the figures below from Sofascore illustrate the fine performance that he gave against Bournemouth.

Liverpool paid an initial £55m to sign the youngster, a fee which looked like quite the gamble for a player with relatively little high-level experience, but he’s already repaying a significant chunk of that investment with a string of top-class performances.

At 35, Van Dijk realistically isn’t going to be at Anfield for a whole lot longer. Mercifully, in Jacquet, the Reds have a long-term successor who looks capable of reaching the levels that his illustrious centre-back partner has demonstrated throughout his career.