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.
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
Photo by Xavier Laine/Getty Images
Arne Slot has compared Jarell Quansah to Ben White
Quansah has had a difficult season on the whole with Liverpool. His second senior year has not gone as well as the first, that’s for sure.
Nevertheless, it has been another campaign full of learning for the 22-year-old. 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 he has come a long way since first being deployed in the position back in December.
After a brief full-back cameo against Man City, the Liverpool academy graduate started against – irony of ironies – Newcastle. Quansah was perceived to have struggled to deal with Anthony Gordon as the Reds looked disjointed in defence. 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. “From what’s been told to me not everyone else is agreeing with me. But if you look back at the game you see that in his one-v-ones he had not many problems.
“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. That makes a difference to if Conor or Trent play there.”
Quansah aided by Anthony Gordon absence
Slot’s assessment of Quansah has aged pretty well in the three months since. 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.
Minutes Accurate Passes Tackles Won Dribbled Past Duels Won
Jarell Quansah vs PSG 47 15/17 1/1 0 1/4
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. Quansah now has the perfect chance to repay the Dutchman’s faith in him at Wembley.