Arne Slot will be quietly relieved as Jarell Quansah‘s time with the England squad came to an end with a 3-0 win over Latvia where he went unused on the bench.
Quansah was called up to Thomas Tuchel’s first-ever England squad for World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia this month.
But unlike Curtis Jones, who started and produced an impressive display in the 2-0 win over Albania, the 22-year-old defender did not make it onto the pitch.
Left out of the 23-man group for that opening qualifier, Quansah then spent the night on the bench as goals from Reece James, Harry Kane and Eberechi Eze sealed victory over Latvia on Monday.
He will now head back to Merseyside later this week having gained further experience training with the national team but, crucially, also avoiding injury.
Quansah is Liverpool’s only available right-back
That will be a big boost to Slot as he is currently without Trent Alexander-Arnold, Conor Bradley and Joe Gomez, with Quansah his only established right-back option.
Alexander-Arnold is hoping to make his return from an ankle injury next month but is not expected to be fit for the Merseyside derby on April 2 and could miss a number of Liverpool’s following games.
The timescale on Bradley’s recovery from a hamstring issue is similarly vague, but an update from Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill suggested that, while the 21-year-old is targeting a comeback before the season’s end, he will not feature prominently.
Gomez is in the same position after suffering a recurrence of a hamstring injury of his own in the 1-0 loss to Plymouth in the FA Cup at the start of February.
Liverpool are reliant on Quansah as their current first choice at right-back, and though he will have hoped for game time with England, emerging from the international break unscathed is a positive for his club.
Slot’s other options at right-back are Wataru Endo, Curtis Jones and perhaps even Dominik Szoboszlai, while youngster James McConnell started the third-round defeat to Plymouth in an inverted role before quickly shifting to midfield.
The emphasis will be on Quansah growing in confidence in the position until Alexander-Arnold returns, with Liverpool needing to build momentum again.
Liverpool’s remaining fixtures
- Everton (H) – April 2
- Fulham (A) – April 6
- West Ham (H) – April 13
- Leicester (A) – April 20
- Tottenham (H) – April 27
- Chelsea (A) – May 3/4
- Arsenal (H) – May 10/11
- Brighton (A) – May 18
- Crystal Palace (H) – May 25
A maximum of five wins are required from their final nine games to seal the Premier League title, and after defeats in both the Champions League last 16 and Carabao Cup final, form must be restored quickly.
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