Jurgen Klopp shares his verdict on Liverpool FC’s goalless draw to Chelsea
Liverpool made six changes to their line-up that lost 4-1 to Manchester City last week and turned up at Stamford Bridge with a totally different lineup. Without the likes of Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold, it was surely going to be a challenging game for Liverpool, and Jurgen Klopp also shares a similar view of the situation.
Diogo Jota retained his place in the Starting XI, with Cody Gakpo and Mo making way for Darwin Nunez and Roberto Firmino. Birthday boy Harvey Elliott had a day off and Curtis Jones came in for him. Notably, this was the first time in the entire season that Elliott was not a part of the matchday squad for the Reds this season, after featuring in all games across all competitions until the game in London.
The backline saw the most changes with Trent, Andy Robertson and Virgil making way for Joe Gomez, Kostas Tsimikas and Joel Matip respectively. With so many changes to the line-up, Klopp knew that he wouldn’t stand on the touchlines witnessing the best game, as per his own words.
Speaking to BBC Sport on how he had minimal expectations from his squad, here is what the gaffer said:
“We need to have these chances. You need to keep having chances. I’m not disappointed about that. They scored twice but both goals were disallowed. I didn’t expect a team with six changes to play the best game of the season. The boys who came in used their opportunity and showed they were ready.”
Long way to go for the Reds
However, Klopp finds solace in the fact that the players who came into the lineup took their chances and put on a display exhibiting their readiness to play. However, the rustiness was indeed visible as the Reds failed to capitalise on whatever chances they had in the game,
Similarly for Chelsea as well, who were considerably better than the Reds on the day. While it is good that the game ended in a draw, the performance from the Reds was surely not one to be proud of and there are still a lot of holes that need to be filled.
What this result does is simple. For starters, it puts Liverpool’s hopes of a finish in any of the UCL spots in somewhat of jeopardy. Moreover, the game against Chelsea was a sure indication of the slim depth we have in midfield and in defence. There is an urgent need for reinforcements and the Summer Transfer window of 2023 couldn’t come any quicker for Klopp.
While the tough part of the season doesn’t surely end here, it gives the Reds a whole lot of opportunity to learn from what transpired in West London and hope to rectify those mistakes back home at Anfield, where we face league leaders Arsenal next on April 9th.
More Liverpool News:
- The Liverpool squad has held crisis talks ahead of the Chelsea game
- Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp sees a future for James Milner at the club
- Real Madrid set a price limit of £88m for the transfer of Liverpool target Jude Bellingham
The Reds, at the time of publishing, are seven points behind fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur with a game in hand. Hopefully, we can cash in on that one fixture, but the tough part is, the game is against Arsenal who are high flying at the moment. However, the Reds have obviously bounced back from adversity in the past as well, and as fans, we can do nothing apart from hoping that they do the same again. In any scenario, You’ll Never Walk Alone.
