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(Credit: Imago)

Jack Heath

Thu 21 August 2025 17:30, UK

Liverpool must quickly sort out their back-up plan at right-back with no Jeremie Frimpong for the crunch tie with Newcastle.

The Premier League champions began the defence of their trophy in sensational style with a 4-2 win over Bournemouth.

The opening game was a poignant one as Anfield came together to remember the late Diogo Jota on what was an extremely emotional night on Merseyside.

League debuts were handed to Milos Kerkez, Florian Wirtz and Frimpong after their summer moves to work under Arne Slot to help build a long-lasting Liverpool dynasty.

However, the Dutch right-back came off on the 59th minute which seemed like a precautionary substitute, only for the Reds manager to confirm even worse news ahead of an important clash with Newcastle.

Slot confirmed today (21 August) that his flying full-back is set to be out until the end of the upcoming international break.

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The news collides with the long-awaited return of Conor Bradley to training, yet it would seem the Northern Irishman will be unlikely to start so soon after coming back.

Therefore, the tricky Harvey Barnes could be set to have a lot of fun down the left against a likely out-of-position right-back under the Monday night lights of St James’ Park.

The Japan international had a game to forget at right-back against Bournemouth and will most certainly not get the nod again in that role (Credit: …

The Liverpool manager did bring on Wataru Endo for Frimpong against the Cherries, but the Japanese was torn to shreds by the pace of Bournemouth’s counter-attack, suggesting he is incapable of fulfilling the role again.

So, genuinely, who will fill in on the right side of defence?

Considering how poor the Reds were defensively against the south coast side, they may just ship a bunch of goals to the Magpies.

When I was monitoring the pre-season fixtures, I noticed that in Liverpool’s first friendly, behind doors against Stoke City, Slot experimented by playing Dominik Szoboszlai at right-back.

(Credit Imago)

The Hungarian featured for the Reds in defensive midfield to cover for the suspended Ryan Gravenberch and looked completely out of his depth against Bournemouth.

Moreover, with the arrival of Wirtz, his usual attacking-midfield spot now looks out of bounds, highlighting that the ex-RB Leipzig maestro will need to find a new place in the starting XI.

In the match against Stoke, the 24-year-old did supply an assist for the now departed Darwin Nunez in a 5-0 rout courtesy of a cross, demonstrating that maybe the experiment could be revamped on Monday (25 August).

Dominik Szoboszlai 2024-25 all competitionsAppearances49Minutes played3,435Goals8Assists8(Source: Sofascore)

Slot did deploy Trent Alexander-Arnold in an inverted midfield role during his last season with his boyhood club and potentially the number eight may adapt a similar position against the Toon.

With just one match played on the right-side of defence, who knows how Szoboszlai will react to adopting the role in a competitive game, but it may just be the last resort the Dutch manager has to turn to.

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