The CRUCIAL reason Dean Huijsen now tops Liverpool's wishlist

All season long one of Liverpool’s key areas of attention has been the centre-back position.

Ibrahima Konate has solidified his place alongside Virgil van Dijk to form one of the most formidable defensive pairings in world football.

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Injuries to the French international have brought Jarell Quansah and Joe Gomez into the mix at various points, with Van Dijk holding down the fort to ensure Liverpool remain title favourites throughout.

But Liverpool’s captain being out of contract at the end of the season has loomed over the club like a dark cloud, and now there is talk of Konate perhaps heading to PSG or Real Madrid should they come knocking.

As a result, new centre-backs are always being rumoured for the Reds.

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One of the more recent links has been Bournemouth’s Dean Huijsen.

Huijsen has been a revelation this season - as has the entire Bournemouth team, really - joining the Cherries from Juventus this past summer and being an essential part of the reason they are 7th in the Premier League at time of writing, just four points off the Champions League places.

In many ways, Huijsen mirrors Liverpool’s starting centre-backs in output. He averages the exact same amount of tackles per-90 as Konate, at a tackle win rate of 61.6% to Van Dijk’s 56.3% (Konate wins 70% of his tackles).

Huijsen also averages 2.2 interceptions per-90, outranking Van Dijk’s 1.54 and Konate’s 0.5. Whilst he almost certainly faces more defensive pressure than Liverpool do, it shows a consistent ability to deal with it.

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The one cause for concern in his defensive performance is aerially.

Can Dean Huijsen fit into Liverpool's defence?

Huijsen wins only 59.7% of his aerial duels in the Premier League this season, whilst Van Dijk wins 71.5% and Konate gets a staggering 76.9%.

It’s a key aspect of Liverpool’s defensive performance. They often face longer passes in the air as teams look to exploit the counter-attack and quickly get the ball into the box. Van Dijk and Konate has been near-perfect at dealing with it all season.

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However, things may be looking up for Huijsen in this regard. He is quietly becoming more apt in the air. Against Wolves in the FA Cup yesterday he won a game-high six out of seven aerial duels as his time progressed on penalties.

The previous five games speak to his development. He began with winning 50% against Everton, improving to 57% against Southampton, before 60% against Wolves in the league, then 83% against Brighton in midweek, following it up with the performance yesterday.

As talented as Huijsen is, it’s important to remember he doesn’t even turn 20-years old until 14th April. He is far from the finished article despite being one of the best defenders in the league this season.

And this growing side of his game is just one of many reasons Liverpool should be falling over themselves to sign him.

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