Jurgen Klopp has rejected criticism of Trent Alexander-Arnold's defending following Liverpool's 1-0 victory over West Ham on Saturday.
The England international set up Sadio Mane's winner and cleared Pablo Fornals' chip off the line to secure a vital win for the Reds, who are just three points behind Manchester City in the race for the Premier League title before the Sky Blues play on Sunday.
Alexander-Arnold has been criticised at times for a perceived lack of skill in defence, but Klopp said he wouldn't be playing if that was the case.
"Does it surprise me? Yes. Absolutely," he said. "But I don't think that will change with whatever I say tonight. If he couldn't defend, he couldn't play. At least not in this position.
"He has improved in all departments and of course in defending as well, but he is young so he can still improve and he has to improve. But yes, his defending is not a problem that we have.
"So when you see him playing, we have helped him a little bit with positioning and stuff like this and we have tried to bring him into positions formation-wise to where he can be influential. But of course, it is all about him, his skill set, his quality and his right foot.
"That is it and he is really keeping this situation in focus to set up goals.
"He knows where the dangerous situations are in the opposition box and around that and he really tries to put the ball there.
"That is very helpful and we have worked together for a long time because the strikers obviously expect that as well.
"It was a brilliant run from Sadio for the goal and I don't think it was a shot [from Alexander-Arnold] for the goal, I heard some talk about that. I don't think he connected with the ball properly but he wanted to bring it into the box and find someone who picks it up.
"That was Sadio at the time, so it was a really good goal."
Liverpool are next in action on Tuesday when they look to reach the quarter finals of the Champions League, facing Inter at Anfield with a 2-0 advantage from the first leg.
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Source : 90min