Well, Liverpool got a clean sheet yesterday, which is good - and things looked fairly solid back there. But was that our best back-four selection? It's a subject to which I have decided to dedicate some of my not-working-at-my-desk time.

We have the third-best defence in the Premier League so we are pretty good at the back and now we have some interesting permutations to choose from, which is key to any team looking to challenge on multiple fronts.

So if Pepe Reina is a given, then who should be in front of him? Last night we had Alvaro Arbeloa, Martin Skrtel, Jamie Carragher and John Arne Riise and it seemed pretty solid. Riise had one of his better games, as always going forward he is a far better player. Skrtel had a good game, too, and managed some timely challenges.

'We have the third-best defence in the Premier League so we are pretty good at the back and now we have some interesting permutations to choose from'


This West Ham game was crucial, of course, as it gives us the edge in the Champions League race - and the players involved did what was necessary. Carra was back in central defence, a role he prefers and alongside the Slovakian he looked assured. What, then, when Daniel Agger returns?

Add to that equation Steve Finnan, Sami Hyypia and Fabiano Aurelio and we have a nice situation to be in. It's always good to have a number of options to choose from, especially given the amount of games that the club is involved in. But who is best?

Personally, I would like to see an Agger-Skrtel pairing as and when injury concerns permit this. I would then opt for Carragher and Riise as full-backs.

And although I am a big fan of Finnan, I would prefer to count on the four I have chosen.