Ten Hag explains full-back choices

There have been occasions in the past where Dalot was the one operating on the left, having proved his versatility in that area on a number of occasions.

Although admitting he was unable to go into the great depth required to fully analyse the choice in the last couple of games, the boss did suggest it was primarily because of the partnerships on the field.

Dalot has developed a good understanding with Alejandro Garnacho down the right, and also with Antony, so has been retained in that role. 

Wan-Bissaka, an excellent man marker, performed well when confronted with Liverpool danger man Mohamed Salah, even if the Egypt international did score in our 4-3 Emirates FA Cup quarter-final victory, and could come up against him again in Sunday's Premier League game at Old Trafford.

The defender has also done a superb job on Raheem Sterling over the years, with the Chelsea forward tipped to come back into Mauricio Pochettino's starting XI for Thursday night's Stamford Bridge encounter.

Our no.29's return to fitness has been timely, with regular left-back options Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia both sidelined.

"I can't go too deep in that fact," Erik told club media in our exclusive pre-match interview. "But they have both, of course, their skills, their contribution to the team.

"So we have a clear idea of what is ideally [the situation]. Sometimes, we have to adjust this but, lately, it has worked out very good, and we want to keep that consistency with Diogo and Garnacho, over the right side, because they have their connection.

"Also, Diogo, I know, has a very good connection with Antony. So, most of the times, we want to keep such routines and that is why I chose lately for this partnership.

"To keep Diogo more on the right side and then, lately, Azza came in and did a very good job over on the left side."