Arne Slot confirms Jarell Quansah was hooked at half-time over Liverpool weakness and not injured

Arne Slot has confirmed Jarell Quansah was in fact hooked at half-time after mounting injury fears surrounding the defender.

Slot had stated that he was extremely unhappy with Liverpool losing 'too many duels' before defensively and offensively, deciding to pull Quansah for Ibrahima Konate. It was initially thought Quansah was taken off with an injury but Slot has since confirmed the decision was purely tactical.

Quansah had impressed on the ground for the Reds, and did not nothing get past him despite being tested. However, the Dutch head coach wanted to see his defenders win the first and second balls better than they had in the first before going on to turn the game around in the second.

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Speaking to TNT Sports, Slot said: "We don't need to talk about tactics if we don't win our duels... We needed to do better in the first half. The second half was a joy to watch."

While Quansah would have been disappointed to have been pulled, it will ease fans' minds with many believing him to have picked up an injury. The Reds had already been short on players at the position in the game after Arne Slot controversially chose to leave Joe Gomez out, amid reported interest from Chelsea, with Quansah looking to be the preferred starter alongside Virgil van Dijk .

But many had been worried when Konate was put through an extensive warm-up, suggesting that one of Van Dijk or Quansah had picked up an injury - with the latter taken off.

Liverpool had issues defensively in the first half while struggling to create chances at the other end, before coming to life in the second with goals from Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah easing tensions after their start to the game.

The Reds will certainly need the impressive 21-year-old this season, with Quansah almost certain to see regular playing time despite Slot being unhappy with his start.

Quansah looks to have pipped Gomez in the pecking order, having already shown their willingness to let him leave after they had agreed a deal with Newcastle to send the center-back to their EPL rivals for $58m (£45m/€53m). However, talks had broken down along with Liverpool's interest in Anthony Gordon also cooling.

Elsewhere, Liverpool could look to center-back Sepp van den Berg, who had impressed out on loan at Mainz last season amid rumored interest from numerous teams around Europe. The Reds are said to value the Dutchman at around $25 million, with no team seemingly meeting that valuation, keeping him at the club.

Liverpool are the only team in the Premier League to have yet to make a signing, with Arne Slot not ruling out an incoming but admitting that he had been pleased with the strength of his squad coming into the season opener with Ipswich.

The Reds will next be in action when they face Brentford at Anfield on Sunday, August 25.