Arne Slot has a decision to make ahead of the weekend.
Liverpool travel to Wembley to take on Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final and do so off the back of being eliminated from the Champions League this week.
The Reds were dragged to penalties by Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday night and Paul Merson believes this will hand Newcastle an advantage over the Premier League leaders.
Liverpool also lost Trent Alexander-Arnold to an injury against the Ligue 1 champions and the right-back is out of the Carabao Cup final as a result.
Jarell Quansah came on to replace the full-back but it remains uncertain if the 22-year-old will start in that role against Newcastle.
Photo by Xavier Laine/Getty Images
Photo by Xavier Laine/Getty Images
Arne Slot shares if Jarell Quansah will play at right-back in the Carabao Cup final
With Conor Bradley also out injured, Slot has a decision to make at right-back for the Reds’ clash with Newcastle with the Dutch coach admitting on Friday that Curtis Jones can also play the role.
Slot is likely to opt for Quansah as the center-back is a more natural defender and will have a tough task coming up against Harvey Barnes on Sunday afternoon.
The Liverpool boss has been impressed with the 22-year-old’s recent displays at Anfield and speaking to the press on Friday, Slot hinted that Quansah could start at Wembley.
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“He did really well the last few times he had to play for us and even in a position he’s not completely used to as a right full-back, but in my opinion, he has also the qualities to play in that position.
“He’s strong, he’s fast, he’s very comfortable with the ball, and it gives us an extra quality if we play him; which we saw in terms of set pieces because he was the one that was this far away from us qualifying for the next round (of the Champions League) by having the ball hit the post.
“So yeah, he showed mentality and that he had the quality that’s already what we knew when we saw him playing last season.”
Before these comments Slot praised Quansah for turning his season around as it looked at one point that the 22-year-old would have no future on Merseyside as long as the Dutch coach was there.
Why Thomas Tuchel picked Jarell Quansah in his England squad
At one point this season, it was believed that Slot felt Quansah was going backwards at Liverpool which stemmed from the defender being hooked off at halftime during the Reds’ first Premier League game of the season.
The 22-year-old would not feature much in the league in the weeks after, however, his importance has increased a bit recently.
As a result, the Liverpool star was surprisingly included in Thomas Tuchel’s first England squad for the Three Lions’ upcoming games against Albania and Latvia.
During his press conference on Friday, Slot praised Quansah’s mentality and suggested that the defender’s reaction to his early season setback is why Tuchel has called him up to play for England.
“It says a lot about his mentality,” the Dutch coach stated. “Last season, I think everybody saw what a talent he is. Then the season started with him starting and I changed him, as we all know against Ipswich.
“Ibou and Virgil are such a strong combination that’s why he didn’t play a lot, but every time he had to play, except maybe for the first one or two games, but afterwards, every time he had to play, you could see that maybe he was no longer a talent because as a talent, you don’t have any setbacks.
“But the moment you get setbacks, it’s about you, how you react and I think he showed in his recent performances that he has outgrown being called the talent and that’s probably what Thomas Tuchel saw and sees as well, by calling him up (for England).”