Arne Slot has addressed his decision to consistently leave Wataru Endo out of Liverpool's starting XI, despite the Japan international being the squad's only natural defensive midfielder.
Endo has managed a mere 36 minutes of Premier League football this season, spread across four substitute appearances, with his sole starts coming in the League Cup.
As Liverpool's leaky midfield has contributed to shipping 10 goals in their last three matches, supporters have increasingly demanded greater involvement from Endo, who has made just one fleeting top-flight appearance since August. However, Slot maintains that Ryan Gravenberch's performances mean there has been no pressing need to call upon the 32-year-old.
Addressing questions about Endo's limited playing time, Slot said: "I prefer not to talk about individuals but since you ask, he is in the position Ryan is in. Ryan is not performing the worst from all of our players.
"That is Ryan's best position and the same as Wata. When I used him as a right-back against Bournemouth I got criticised, I got told I got criticized.
"Ryan is one of the few who has been fit throughout the whole season. That is the answer."
Joe Gomez represents another player who has scarcely featured this campaign, despite being capable of providing cover at both centre-back and right-back - two positions where Liverpool have suffered injury setbacks.
Slot opted not to use Gomez from the substitutes' bench over the past week following the defender receiving a knee injection, though the 28-year-old is a strong candidate to feature in the starting line-up at the London Stadium this weekend.
Joe Gomez has found opportunities limited
Joe Gomez has found opportunities limited (Image: CameraSport via Getty Images)
However, the Reds manager explained: "I think we have played a lot of different line-ups for reasons I prefer not to do because everyone was not available. We have used our whole squad constantly without Wata and Joe."
Florian Wirtz may return to the squad after missing the previous two matches with a muscle complaint, whilst Alisson Becker has recovered from illness and Hugo Ekitike is anticipated to be fit after being substituted against PSV Eindhoven in midweek due to a back spasm.
Andy Robertson, Federico Chiesa, Alexander Isak and Rio Ngumoha are all competing for starting positions, but defenders Conor Bradley, Jeremie Frimpong and Giovanni Leoni remain sidelined.
"Now is a new experience," remarked Slot, addressing Liverpool's difficult spell of nine losses in 12 matches.
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"I always find it hard to learn from things, this must not sound wrong, but next time there will be different players or clubs involved. I never think, 'Oh three years ago I lost one game and did that meeting and used that tactic so let me use this again now...'.
"That is not how it works. There are so many things that go into it. There is no specific thing I would do differently in a few years.
"Because I don't know which team I have to work with. It is clear and obvious that not all the decisions we made were excellent. Maybe to start with, not playing Wata...!".