Liverpool must pick themselves up from the disappointment of Tuesday evening as they aim to lift a second consecutive Carabao Cup.

The Reds had hoped to go through in the Champions League after taking a 1-0 lead against PSG back to Anfield.

But although they pushed the Ligue 1 champions all the way, Liverpool lost out in a penalty shootout.

Given how hard the Reds had ran throughout an intense 120 minutes – and the tough phycological blow of losing on penalties – it was not ideal preparation for Sunday’s Carabao Cup final.

Arne Slot reacts to Jarell Quansah England call-up	Arne Slot explains role Jarell Quansah has now “outgrown” after “big moment”	Liverpool defender Jarell Quansah reacts to England call up after Arne Slot admission

Matters were made even worse for Liverpool after Trent Alexander-Arnold was ruled out of the final after coming off injured against PSG.

With Conor Bradley and Joe Gomez out injured, Jarell Quansah stepped in at right-back and did a fine job of shackling Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.

And as Quansah now prepares to start in place of Alexander-Arnold against Newcastle, it’s already clear what Arne Slot thinks of it all.

Photo by Xavier Laine/Getty Images

Quansah has had a difficult season on the whole with Liverpool.

And one real positive to come out has been his development as a right-back.

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Tall and not especially quick, Quansah does appear a natural fit at right-back.

But speaking to the press in the days following the match, Slot talked up what he’d seen from the No.78.

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“First of all I think Jarell played quite a good game,” he said.

“The few times Anthony Gordon was a threat he was not involved in those moments.”

“If Conor is available he is a similar style to Trent, he tries to attack the goal and wants to make underlaps and overlaps, but Jarell is a different type of player,” Slot added.

“He’s more the way Ben White fills that position, behind the ball, playing the ball through the lines.

While he does not look like a natural in the position, the England man has coped well at right-back whenever asked to play there.

That culminated in a fine showing against PSG, where he was mightily unlucky not to come away having scored the winning goal.

MinutesAccurate PassesTackles WonDribbled PastDuels WonJarell Quansah vs PSG4715/171/101/4

It wasn’t just his header which bounced off the inside of the post, though, Quansah was solid defensively throughout his 47 minutes on the pitch.

That accumulative full half against an attack as lively as PSG’s will certainly help him going into Sunday’s game.

And while Quansah has shown that he can keep the likes of Kvaratskhelia and Ousmane Dembele quiet, he will surely be aided by the fact that Gordon is suspended for Newcastle this weekend.

He may have a way to go to match the consistency of someone like £50m man White, but you can see what Slot was getting at with the comparison.
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