Jurgen Klopp has given a strong hint of his intentions to field a heavily rotated Liverpool team for their concluding Europa League group game against Union Saint-Gilloise on Thursday. The Reds are already confirmed as Group E winners and will progress straight to the round of 16 in March, so the match in Belgium offers […]
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Jurgen Klopp has given a strong hint of his intentions to field a heavily rotated Liverpool team for their concluding Europa League group game against Union Saint-Gilloise on Thursday.
The Reds are already confirmed as Group E winners and will progress straight to the round of 16 in March, so the match in Belgium offers the perfect opportunity for first-team regulars to be rested for the crunch Premier League showdown against Manchester United on Sunday.
Speaking at the Anfield Road test event on Monday night, the 56-year-old has said he will make changes to his line-up accordingly, but didn’t specifically hint at who might feature in terms of personnel.
Klopp outlined (via Liverpool Echo): “I’m really happy that we don’t have to win there, that would have been a really tough situation. We will rotate – we always did, that’s clear – but in this moment in time I have no clue who I will line up.
“I didn’t even think about it to be honest – no, really! – so I don’t know. I don’t know who will be available, who is ill, stuff like this. How often I make plans in my life, from one day to another, knowing I could throw it in the bin.
“We will have a good team and a team who is ready to give Union a proper fight. That’s all everybody can expect for us and that’s what we will do. It’s good for a lot of things, it’s good for rhythm. We’ve won the group already but we want to have these three points anyway.”
Frankly, Klopp would be daft not to take this one glorious opportunity to keep his main players fresh for United’s visit to Anfield at the weekend. Quite simply, the result in Belgium doesn’t matter to Liverpool, even if professional pride will ensure that those who play will strive for victory.
The line-ups for the previous five Europa League games have featured an abundance of changes, so with qualification already assured, you can be sure that the manager will hand starts to a few academy prospects.
It’s also a chance for the 56-year-old to prove that he’s learned from his previous folly of starting Diogo Jota in similar circumstances for a dead rubber Champions League game against Midtjylland three years ago, only for the in-form attacker to suffer a wholly preventable knee injury on the night which subsequently sidelined him for three months, during which our season collapsed.
We can probably expect to see youngsters such as Ben Doak, Kaide Gordon, Conor Bradley and Luke Chambers start against Union SG tomorrow, with the likes of Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dominik Szoboszlai held in reserve for United on Sunday.
The team news announcement before the game in Belgium could arguably be of more interest to Liverpool fans than the match itself, with nothing riding on it for the Reds as the hard work is already done.
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The post ‘That’s what we will do’ – Klopp teases ‘clear’ Liverpool team selection hint for Union SG tie appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.
