After Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and Luis Dáz defeated Leeds United 6-1 in the Premier League on April 17, 2023, they embraced.
By defeating Brentford by a narrow margin on Saturday night, Liverpool maintained their strong finish to the season with a sixth straight victory.
The Reds narrowly prevailed 1-0 thanks to a goal from Mohamed Salah. Next Monday, when Liverpool travels to struggling Leicester City, they will try to maintain their tenuous Champions League qualification hopes.
And now we take a look ahead to the adjustments Jurgen Klopp might make when his team plays next.
Between the victory over Brentford and the trip to the King Power Stadium, there will likely be no problem for Jurgen Klopp in terms of benching tired players the following game.
It is unlikely that the defense will change much as a result, despite the fact that Andy Robertson and Kostas Tsimikas have recently alternated at left-back, despite the fact that the former is unquestionably the better choice. The same can be said of Trent Alexander-Arnold in his new, versatile right-back position. With Calvin Ramsay out for the season, Joe Gomez and James Milner are the more conventional replacements.
Once again, the ideal center-back pairing is Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate, with Joel Matip and Gomez coming in second. Since mid-February, only one each of Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams has been benched in the Premier League.
Adrian and Caomhin Kelleher are still surpassed by Alisson Becker in the goalie position.
Given the growing list of absences in the midfield, there isn’t much room for significant change.
The season-ending injuries to Thiago Alcantara and Stefan Bajcetic, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s eight-game absence, Naby Keita’s absence from the team since being replaced at Crystal Palace’s halftime more than two months ago, and Arthur Melo’s continued absence from Premier League action are all factors. In the summer, all three of the latter will depart from the club.
Jordan Henderson wasn’t fully fit, so Klopp only used Fabinho and Curtis Jones as his midfielders against Brentford, with Cody Gakpo moving back to the back line.
With only Milner and Harvey Elliott as backups, Henderson, who made a brief appearance from the bench over the weekend, should be fully recovered by next Monday.
The most important decision for Klopp will likely be whether to start Luis Diaz again after benching him on Saturday after starting the previous two games after his return from an almost six-month absence.
Other options on the left include Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota, who could also compete for a position in the middle alongside Gakpo and a recovered Roberto Firmino.
Elliott and Fabio Carvalho are the other available attacking options, so Mohamed Salah will look to continue his strong campaign-ending performance down the right.
