Arne Slot has a plethora of full-back options ahead of the new campaign and starting roles could determine Liverpool's attacking approach
Conor Bradley and Milos Kerkez before a Liverpool game
Conor Bradley and Milos Kerkez are options for Liverpool(Image: PETER PARKS/AFP via Getty Images)
Two players for every position has long been the mantra at Liverpool. Some roles, though, can be somewhat more secure than others.
And during recent times few have, injury and availability permitting, been locked down quite as much as those belonging to Trent Alexander-Arnold and right-back and Andy Robertson at left-back.
The landscape, though, has changed in recent months. Alexander-Arnold is a Real Madrid player after moving to the Bernabeu in an £8.5 million deal while Robertson readily admits he is entering the final third of his career having turned 31 in March.
Throw in the summer purchases of £40m left-back Milos Kerkez from Bournemouth and £29m right-back Jeremie Frimpong from Bayer Leverkusen, and the picture becomes even less clear. Not least with Kostas Tsimikas and Conor Bradley already options on the respective defensive flanks.
Not that Arne Slot will mind. Competition for places, and strength in depth, will be key for Liverpool as they look to defend their Premier League title while going deep in the Champions League.
But who the preferred duo will be going into the season remains very much open to question.
For a start, it would be a surprise if Liverpool still had three senior left-backs on the books come September 1. While both Robertson and Tsimikas have featured at centre-back during the warm-up programme, that was more through necessity than design.
Robertson had been a target for Atletico Madrid earlier in the summer until the Spaniards looked elsewhere, while rumours linking Tsimikas with a host of clubs have dissipated in recent weeks.
Everything, though, points to new boy Kerkez being the first choice for now, the most recent evidence of which came with the Hungarian playing more than an hour of the 3-1 friendly win over Yokohama F Marinos on Wednesday. Robertson, who replaced Kerkez, would appear next in line.
Intriguing has been the way in which Kerkez has linked up with the player ahead of him, which has usually been Cody Gakpo. While he forged a reputation for getting to the byline at Bournemouth, already with Liverpool there has been signs of him tucking inside and helping provide more space for his winger team-mate, as well as opening up the option of feeding the central players with passes from deep.
On the opposite side of the defence, there has also been a clear trend. But rather than another new face, it is Bradley who has had the greater minutes at right-back, scoring the first goal of pre-season in the 3-1 win at Preston North End last month.
Frimpong has instead shown his versatility by largely being used as an alternative to Mohamed Salah on the right, during which he created a goal for Trey Nyoni in midweek after coming on for the Egyptian.
For his part, Bradley has largely been encouraged to maintain the approach he employed last season under Slot, being selective over when to push wide or cut inside.
With Alexander-Arnold having been such a key figure in Liverpool's attacking make-up as a whole, let alone from right-back, the two full-back positions will be expected to offer differing strands of creativity. One player alone cannot replace Alexander-Arnold's influence.
Monday's Anfield double-header against Athletic Bilbao and the Community Shield clash with Crystal Palace the following Sunday are the final chances for Slot to assess his options.
And much will be learned about Liverpool's immediate attacking intent from full-back when the teamsheet drops for the Premier League opener against Bournemouth in less than a fortnight.