Jurgen Klopp has explained his decision to drop Trent Alexander-Arnold and Mohamed Salah against Newcastle.
Klopp chose to leave out some of his key players in what is an important game in the title race away to Newcastle. The Merseysiders can’t afford to slip with Manchester City in form.
The Liverpool manager has explained his decision as to why the likes of Salah and Alexander-Arnold didn’t start.
“We have to do it because of the intensity of the period we’re in,” Klopp told BT Sport, via the Daily Mirror
Klopp has been one of the managers who has been pushing for more substitutes allowed in the Premier League. If things start going wrong against Newcastle, he will only be allowed to bring on three subs as it stands.
The likes of Salah, Alexander-Arnold, and Thiago are all on the bench, so you’d expect Klopp to make some changes if they aren’t winning towards the end of the game.
Liverpool are lucky to have the squad they do because despite resting key players, they can still field a front three of Luis Diaz, Sadio Mane and Diogo Jota.
“But when you make five changes and that is still the line-up then obviously you have a good squad. We could have changed more but it was about rhythm and stability as well, and everyone knowing exactly what the other one is doing,” added Klopp.
Manchester City travel to Leeds in the evening kick-off, so will be hoping Klopp’s decision to rest players backfires on him.