Liverpool will continue to rotate its starting XI as Andoni Iraola balances playing two games per week, but his best side is beginning to emerge a few months into his tenure

Andoni Iraola made five changes as Liverpool lost to Fenerbahce on Wednesday. Kostas Tsimikas has effectively become the midweek left-back, and Rio Ngumoha has tended to feature in the Carabao Cup and Champions League.

While the Liverpool roster would ideally be stronger, it is fair to say that Iraola is using what he has to the fullest capacity, even with Wataru Endo and Federico Chiesa playing just two minutes between them. Jamie Carragher, though, was not impressed by the performance midweek, when the changes didn't pay off for the first time.

"I think what it reinforces for the supporters is that the squad Liverpool has got is very expensive but not as good as it should be, and not as balanced as it should be," the Reds legend said on CBS Sports earlier this week.

"In Trey Nyoni in midfield, Liverpool haven’t spent expensively on a player as such, but they’ve given big contracts this summer to Ryan Gravenberch, who was left out (last) weekend, and Dominik Szoboszlai, who played there (vs Fenerbahce) and didn’t play particularly well."

It is a criticism often put forward of managers that they don't know their best team, but Iraola has very deliberately mixed things up as he gets to grips with playing two games a week.

Who makes Liverpool's best starting XI, though, either right now, or when players like Hugo Ekitike and Conor Bradley are back fit and available again?

Alisson Becker is clearly still the number one in goal, despite a couple of mistakes this week. And across the back four, things look fairly settled with Ronald Araujo, Jeremy Jacquet, Virgil van Dijk and Milos Kerkez.

Kostas Tsimikas has come in at times, but he hasn't particularly impressed, while Joe Gomez is another defensive option. When Bradley returns to full fitness, he will challenge at right-back.

Araujo, though, has been solid there at the start of the new season, and Jacquet has — the Fenerbahce game aside — been a revelation.

In midfield, Alexis Mac Allister is a must on his recent form, and Szoboszlai would have been during the summer, though Nyoni has been so good lately that right now the teenager would be most people's pick.

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Ryan Gravenberch, meanwhile, needs to improve substantially to get himself back into contention. This weekend, he might miss out thanks to a heel issue, but would have been an outside bet to start regardless.

Up top, it is more straightforward, at least until the return of Ekitike complicates things. Exactly what the plan is for the Frenchman is set to be fascinating.

For now, Bradley Barcola, Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak are musts, with Cody Gakpo completing the attack. Ngumoha and Victor Munoz are pushing for bigger roles out wide, but Barcola and Gakpo are the senior options.

Moving forward, Iraola will rightly keep rotating. His best starting XI, though, is beginning to emerge.