The purpose of Luis Diaz playing left back is explained by Jurgen Klopp

In the 2-0 victory over Everton, Luis Diaz was deployed as a left-back, an unconventional choice that Jurgen Klopp has explained the reasoning for.

After the international break, the Reds defeated their neighbors 3–1, with a late brace from Mohamed Salah sealing the win in front of the Kop.

In an attempt to force a breakthrough late in the game, Diaz switched to a left wing-back role in the second half.

After the game, the manager gave an explanation of the strategy, saying that the Colombian was supposed to “attack” from a deeper position than he usually does.

“We brought on another offensive player and how you can do that without taking one off? You have to change a little bit. So we put Lucho in the left-back position,” the boss told TNT Sports.

We reasoned that we could allow him to attack there because they didn’t actually have a winger there.

“It wasn’t the worst idea we’ve ever had, because he crossed the ball for the penalty.”

After Michael Keane’s mistake, Salah stroked the ball past Jordan Pickford from 12 yards out to break the tie after 75 minutes.

With Ashley Young’s departure just before the half, Everton was in a deep hole and the Reds needed to be patient to beat them. Klopp said that he “would’ve loved” to have witnessed how the match played out on an even playing field.

“Everton is not a team with that deep a block, so I would’ve loved to play the game 11v11 or 10v10 because it’s just a different game,” he continued.

“However, with 10, they were extremely deep, and that is challenging.”

It may be argued that Diaz was unlucky not to receive a penalty after Nathan Patterson tackled him just prior to the handball call.

With Darwin Nunez coming on, Klopp wanted to keep Salah and Diogo Jota on the field, so the forward was switched to left back.

Diaz is unlikely to play this position often this season, but his choice made it possible for the Reds to defeat a tenacious Everton team in the second half.