Liverpool got back to winning ways on Wednesday with an important victory in the Merseyside Derby.

Having been hit with back-to-back defeats prior to the international break, the Reds badly needed three points against Everton.

With plenty on the line – and some stale performances still fresh in the memory – all eyes were on what Arne Slot would decide to do with his Liverpool XI.

And although there were ultimately no changes at all to the Liverpool forward line, Slot did spring a surprise in defence.

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Having seen Jarell Quansah struggle a little at right-back during the Carabao Cup final before the break, the Reds boss opted to play midfielder Curtis Jones at full-back against Everton.

After Jones delivered an assured performance out of position, Slot explained his decision to drop Quansah after the game.

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Immediately after the match, Jones gave his take on playing right-back, claiming that Slot told him he’d more often than not be playing as No.10.

And speaking in his post-match press conference, the Dutch coach more or less confirmed this, stating that Jones’ profile offered something different to Quansah.

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“Jarell did quite OK in that position, to be fair, and he would have helped us with set-pieces,” Slot began.

“But I felt – we felt – that we had to play better with the ball than we did in the away game.

“It’s a risk to play a midfielder over there maybe.

But I knew that he [Jones] could help with his creativity in this position because that’s what you lack of course when Trent is not playing for you.”

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“He did very well defensively also so [it was] a strong performance from him, like from the whole team,” Slot added.

“It’s nice to have an extra option in that position because three of them are injured.”

Gary Neville was less than enthused about Jones playing at right-back, but it’s fair to say that the midfielder did a decent enough job.

The task will of course be different against Fulham on Sunday, with the Cottagers looking to make home advantage count.

As a result, it would not be a surprise to see Slot go a little more orthodox and pick Quansah this time.

Having played all three of his starting midfielders for 90 minutes against Everton, the Liverpool head coach may have to take tiredness into account, too.

This could see Jones return to midfield.

Conor Bradley is back in solo training, too, so with a few extra days under his belt, perhaps the Northern Irishman will come back into contention again.
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