Jurgen Klopp made six changes to his Liverpool lineup for their match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in an attempt to elicit a response from his faltering side.
Liverpool was defeated 4-1 by Manchester City in the Premier League on Saturday, highlighting the gap between the rivals. The Reds have been well off their regular pace this season, falling far short of the Champions League berths.
During the midweek encounter against Chelsea, Klopp made wholesale changes, benching Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Andy Robertson. Due to sickness, Virgil van Dijk was replaced by Joel Matip, while Harvey Elliott and Cody Gakpo were also absent from the starting lineup.
Before the encounter against Chelsea, Liverpool had lost their previous three games in all competitions. In an interview with Sky Sports before the match in West London, Klopp stated that his moves were made to inject some freshness into his ailing team.
When asked how many of his improvements had been implemented, he said, “Some.” Virgil is unavailable. And the rest is like, some people get a break, others need a rest, and a lot of players have a chance to play tonight – and that’s it.
“It was obvious that we needed new legs, but we also needed fresh thoughts.” And, as I previously said, things haven’t gone well in the past few weeks, so now is the time to make adjustments. So I hope we can demonstrate the response, even if it’s not the same squad, because we have to show a reaction as a group.”
The substitutions did not seem to have the expected impact, as Chelsea dominated the first 45 minutes. Liverpool’s new backline of Joe Gomez, Matip, Ibrahima Konate, and Kostas Tsimikas struggled, and the Reds were lucky that Reece James’ goal was ruled out for offside in the build-up by VAR.
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher was taken aback by Klopp’s decision, given many of those left out were regulars in his starting lineup.
“It’s more than you’d anticipate, and what Jurgen Klopp’s done since he arrived is that there are some guys that simply play every game, you know, and some of those players, some of them aren’t playing today,” he remarked on Sky Sports.
“Look at the back four, Virgil van Dijk is out due to sickness, we’ve been informed, but Trent Alexander-Arnold, you’re always expecting to be on that squad sheet.” Another is Mo Salah, and another is Andy Robertson.
He hasn’t just altered the squad; he’s changed the stalwarts who have been there week in and week out for years, not just this season. Is it related to the performance versus Manchester City?
“Does that have anything to do with the fаcт that Liverpool has three difficult games in a week?” It’s a mix of the two. There’s no question that what occurred at the Etihad on Saturday is on his mind, and he has to make adjustments as a result of that performance.”