Liverpool star confirms he's ready to RETURN to starting line-up | OneFootball

Arne Slot had an 'easy' job last season at Liverpool.

Not in the sense that you might think. Of course replacing Jurgen Klopp, being the man to follow on from him is not an easy task. Building a team to become Premier League champions is not small feat, either.

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Slot had a very difficult task ahead of him. But there was one thing that made his job easy.

He had a starting line-up that was already put together. On paper, because of the lack of quality depth, Slot didn't have to make big selection decisions, his line-up was clear from the beginning.

The Dutchman didn't have a bench that he trusted, and who seriously challenged the starting positions on the pitch.

This is why Slot didn't rotate his options as often. He was often criticised for this and while it's true he does prefer a smaller squad compared to even Klopp but he would have rotated the team more had he had the players he wanted available to him.

After the summer Liverpool have had, this has changed now. Slot doesn't have an 'easy' job anymore.

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In every position now there are players vying for starting roles. In midfield, he could flip a coin between the quartet of Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch and Curtis Jones.

All of them have shown they are worthy starters this season.

At left-back he's got a potentially world-class talent in Milos Kerkez and a seasoned veteran in Andy Robertson. In attack, he's now got the option of Hugo Ekitike or Alexander Isak.

Slot's pretty much spoiled for choice at the moment. He's even got the ability to play Isak and Ekitike together because they are both very versatile.

Liverpool needed to make this happen. The club want to compete for every single title this season so they need depth and players who can help Slot's side on all fronts.

Nowhere is this depth felt more than in the right-back position. Who would've thought that after Trent Alexander-Arnold's move to Real Madrid, we'd be saying this at the start of the season?

But this is the reality. Liverpool already had Conor Bradley ready to take Alexander-Arnold's spot. They've brought in Jeremie Frimpong, who is a worthy replacement as well.

And more recently, Szoboszlai has shown that he's not only an option in midfield but a genuine candidate for the right-back role, too.

His performances against Arsenal and Newcastle United have confirmed that he could be an option there.

But heading into the first game back after the international break, Szoboszlai should see his place back in midfield against Burnley.

© IMAGO - Conor Bradley Liverpool

Instead, it should be Bradley who is starting come Sunday.

After picking up an injury in pre-season, he's been out of the side for a while but over the course of the international break he confirmed that he's finally ready to return to the starting line-up with his performances.

Bradley started both games for Northern Ireland playing 76 minutes against Luxembourg and the full 90 minutes against Germany. In both games, he won the most tackles on the pitch, winning a total of nine tackles from 10 attempts in the two matches.

He also won the most duels against Germany and looked fit and sharp once again.

That's why he's finally ready to come back into the club's starting line-up after missing the start of the season.