With Joel Matip (adductor) and Joe Gomez (virus) ruled out of the trip to the Amex Stadium and Ragnar Klavan only deemed fit enough for a place on the bench after illness, Jürgen Klopp deployed midfielder Wijnaldum as part of a three-man defence alongside Emre Can and Dejan Lovren.
Klopp revealed post-match that the Reds only trained with their new system and line-up for '20-odd minutes' and Netherlands international Wijnaldum praised those alongside him for helping him adapt to a completely different position.
“It was difficult because I’ve never played there so it was new for me,” Wijnaldum told Liverpoolfc.