Villarreal might just have ended the Ronald Araujo at right-back experiment on Tuesday night. It was a chaotic win for Liverpool, who had to come back from two goals down to win 4-3, and a late goal from the visitors had Andoni Iraola's men guarding the ball near the corner ahead of the final whistle.

There were some real positives for Iraola as his team look to move closer to their best after a tough start, with Rio Ngumoha near unplayable, while Florian Wirtz finally ended his scoring drought off the bench. Alexis Mac Allister scored a brace and played a key role in the comeback, but it wasn't all good for Liverpool as they maintained their perfect Champions League record this season.

The Reds were defensively fragile in the opening stages of the game, falling two behind and requiring an Alisson Becker save not to fall three behind. Virgil van Dijk and Kostas Tsimikas both made mistakes for the goals, but Ronald Araujo was also caught way out of position for the second, when Villarreal's left-back, yes, left-back was allowed to surge up the wing and slot home a 1v1 chance.

Araujo singled out and exposed by Villarreal

Araujo was targeted in this game by a head coach and a team who knew what to expect from the Uruguayan. Araujo is a quality defender, but he had a reputation for being clumsy in Spain, for getting too eager and biting at opportunities to win the ball, and Villarreal and head coach Iñigo Pérez remembered that well.

Araujo's stats vs Villarreal

• Minutes played: 45
• Goals: 1
• Clearances: 1
• Interceptions: 0
• Blocked shots : 0
• Pass accuracy: 76%
• Aerials won: 1

Their game plan here was to bring a winger inside, have Araujo follow in anticipation, bounce the ball off the winger or the striker and have the left-back bomb on to exploit the space Araujo had left behind him. It was basic, but knowing Araujo's tendency to step in aggressively, it was effective from the Yellow Submarine.

As for Liverpool, Iraola knew there was an issue and took Araujo off half-time, putting midfielder Ryan Gravenberch there instead. Now, the Reds can put it down as a poor game from Araujo, who did go on to score and redeem himself somewhat, but anyone who watched the Uruguayan international play in Spain knows this is a tendency and not an isolated poor game.

Liverpool must take head, knowing that better teams than Villarreal are going to exploit that issue to an even greater degree, particularly in the Champions League. And on that side, what happens if Liverpool play PSG and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is able to exploit down that left side?

The Reds can't afford to be in that position, and they ought to consider abandoning the Araujo right-back experiment against better teams. They may get away with it against lesser teams in the Premier League, but in tough games, Araujo needs to play at centre-back or not start at all. Now the Reds just need some right-backs back from injury.