With Liverpool making 11 changes, Jurgen Klopp explained the reasons behind his surprise team selection.
Toulouse, Union SG and LASK make up the rest of Liverpool’s Europa League group, and Thursday’s away fixture against the latter is arguably the Reds’ toughest test of the six games ahead.
Despite this, Klopp has decided to make wholesale changes, with Caoimhin Kelleher, Ben Doak and Kostas Tsimikas all starting.
The manager explained his choices, telling TNT Sports: “I wanted a team today that wanted to prove a point, that wants to show up, that will enjoy the game I’m 100 percent sure.
“The reason why we made the changes is because we want to show that we really want to give it all in this competition.”
On Doak’s inclusion, Klopp said: “We have to bring him on the ball and then we all know his one-on-one skills are exceptional.
“We let him start and we will see how much he can contribute.”
As well as Doak, Ryan Gravenberch is also making his first Liverpool start. The boss explained how him and Harvey Elliott can play together.
“The positions are clear, Harvey would have deserved to start much more often, in training his contributions are really good as well. Ryan, since the second he joined, showed he really wants to show up,” Klopp added.
Trent Alexander-Arnold remains out with a hamstring problem – his chances of featuring at the weekend were rated as ’50-50′ by the Liverpool Echo’s Paul Gorst – and Thiago is still not in training.
In the interview, Klopp also name-dropped Conor Bradley, mentioning that he is also still unavailable.
