Arne Slot FINALLY solves one of Liverpool's biggest problems

Liverpool returned to winning ways over the weekend.

Following a sequence of nine defeats in 12 matches, Arne Slot’s side picked up all three points in the Premier League against West Ham in London.

The performance was notable for the exclusion of Mohamed Salah from the starting lineup.

Dominik Szoboszlai was shifted to a right-sided midfield position instead and the injuries of Jeremie Frimpong and Conor Bradley necessitated yet another change at right-back due to the Hungarian featuring further up.

Dutch international Frimpong started the season in the position but filling it on a consistent basis has been a problem for Slot.

Arne Slot's right-back conundrum

We’ve seen Bradley, Szoboszlai, Curtis Jones and Wataru Endo all given outings at right-back this season but the outcome has never been quite right.

That was until Sunday when Slot belatedly gave Joe Gomez his chance. Incredibly it was the 28-year-old’s first Premier League start of the season.

Given the scale of Liverpool’s problems at centre-back and right-back it’s a surprise that the England international hadn’t featured from the beginning until the weekend.

And happily for Slot, his decision paid off.

Gomez put in a very respectable performance - helping the Reds to a clean sheet and giving the players ahead of him a platform to win the game.

It was a decision hailed by Liverpool insider Lewis Steele - who claims that Gomez’s restoration to the starting lineup has provided a key solution for the Premier League champions.

Joe Gomez is Liverpool's problem solver

“Gomez at right back solved a lot of problems,” he writes.

“Szoboszlai has filled in out of position admirably and been Liverpool’s best player this season, but Gomez is a much better defender than the Hungarian.

“His aerial ability also helps when defending set-pieces, which has been a huge issue.

“In the post-Trent Alexander-Arnold world, Liverpool have now played six different right backs this season in the league: Jeremie Frimpong, Conor Bradley, Szoboszlai, Curtis Jones, Wataru Endo and now Gomez.

“Until Sunday, none of Slot’s experiments had really worked. Frimpong, it is believed, is back on the grass and hoping to be back in around a fortnight, which is similar to Bradley, but Gomez certainly offers solidity down that side that Liverpool have been crying out for. “It would be interesting to see how he'd dovetail with a Salah return.”

Joe Gomez in from the cold

It remains to be seen what Slot - and indeed Richard Hughes do over Gomez. He is out of contract in 2027 and the club listened to offers for the versatile defender in the last two summers.

But a run of games at right-back could allow Liverpool’s longest-serving player yet another chance to prove himself.

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