Naby Keita scored for Liverpool in their 3-0 victory over Bournemouth at the weekend.
Keita has endured a difficult spell at Liverpool ever since signings two summers ago, with the central midfielder’s progress being halted by injury.
Keita has never been able to nail down a place in Liverpool’s starting line-up, but he did score for them against Bournemouth at the weekend.
The Reds cruised to a 3-0 victory, with the Guinean star putting in one of his best performances in a red shirt.
And Klopp claims that everyone has forgotten just how well Keita started at Liverpool, amid all his more recent struggles.
“He’s just been unlucky and in life you need luck always,” Klopp said. “He started really well. Everyone forgot that and then he got injured and we’ve had two really good seasons.
“When you see a player like this, you ask why is he not playing week in, week out. Naby had injuries and then the team was in a really good shape so do you change?
“It’s not like when something’s working, you squeeze five more percent of the performance with another player.
“If you want to change, we are not flying. It’s not as though we have won all our games four or five nil so we’ve had to bring on a player who will help us with set-pieces, defending set-pieces.”
Keita managed to get on the scoresheet for Liverpool at the weekend, which should boost his chances of playing more regularly.
Klopp has spoken about the need to rotate his Liverpool side over the festive period, as he looks to keep his players fresh throughout a demanding schedule.
The Reds are next in action tomorrow, when they take on Red Bull Salzburg in the Champions League, and it will be intriguing to see whether Keita keeps his place.
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