Jamie Carragher has claimed that if Liverpool were playing Leeds United, instead of Everton on Sunday, then Jurgen Klopp would make ‘five or six changes’, as he told Sky Sports.
Following Liverpool’s thrashing of Manchester United on Tuesday night, all the attention will now turn to the Merseyside derby at the weekend.
Klopp has some big calls to make on his players, from who he rests and rotates because there is the small matter of their Champions League semi-final matches next week.
On paper, the Reds should secure the points against an Everton team hovering above the relegation zone and in one of its worst-ever periods.
But, at the end of the day, it’s a Merseyside derby, so does Klopp play a stronger side than he normally would against a team near the bottom?
Carragher thinks Klopp might ‘take the emotion out of it’ and play a few back-up players, like Curtis Jones because, if he was playing a Leeds or a Brentford, then there would be changes galore.
“I think Jurgen Klopp might take the emotion out of it,” said Carragher. “He does have to be brave, from now until the end of the season.
“He can’t play the same eight or nine players every game. I think he may look at that game and say ‘I might need to be brave in this game’ and say ‘this is a team that are fourth or fifth from bottom’.
“If we were playing Leeds or Brentford, then I would make five or six changes.
“So, the actual nine he has that are set in stone. Nine or ten. I think we could see a game where there’s maybe Tsimikas comes in. Firmino and Jota play. Maybe Curtis Jones plays because I don’t think he would do that in the two semi-finals.”
So far, Klopp has got a lot of things right and his selections are working like a treat, of course, winning helps.
From an attacking sense, Diogo Jota hasn’t started in a number of games, nor has Roberto Firmino.
They are two obvious players that could come in over the weekend, whilst the vastly-improved Naby Keita is another that can add fresh legs into the middle of the park.
Either way, when you are pushing for all four trophies, then absolutely every detail is assessed and scrutinised to the nth degree.
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