Liverpool still do not look fully settled at right-back after Andoni Iraola made a half-time switch for the second game running.

The Reds’ boss took Ronald Araujo off at the interval during Saturday’s win over Brentford, and did the same on Tuesday despite the Uruguayan scoring with virtually the final touch of the first-half against Villarreal.

Iraola wanted more support in midfield

Araujo was getting pulled all over the place at times during the first-half on Tuesday, often being spotted in a central midfield, or even left-sided midfield position as Villarreal came forward.

Though this looked ungainly, Iraola suggested to Amazon Prime Sport after the game that this was by design, with Araujo trying to combat the pockets of space Alberto Moleiro in particular was picking up in central areas.

With Araujo really struggling to do the job effectively, the Basque explained why he felt Ryan Gravenberch was a better candidate as he moved back into a surprise right-back role for the second-half.

“The first half they were in the middle, almost proper defensive midfielders with Moleiro coming inside,” Iraola said.

“They were creating, And we decided Ryan as a right -back but covering those inside positions they were having in the first half a bit. Also being more of a threat.

“Ronald can be [a threat] as a right-back, but [Gravenberch could] connect more with Rio [Ngumoha]. We value Ryan a lot, we put him as a number 10, then as a right-back.”

Though Gravenberch largely did well, he showed his lack of defensive nous by failing to pick up Tani Oluwaseyi at the back post to score Villarreal’s third goal. As a result, while this worked as a stop-gap solution for one game, it would be a surprise to see Iraola rekindle this idea for Sunday’s game with Brighton. With no injury mentioned, Araujo will likely come back in.