Jurgen Klopp is a huge advocate of including youngsters in his squads whenever possible and this will likely be an opportunity he makes the most of in the Europa League this season, although one player is set to miss the opening game.
Aftering including Bobby Clark as part of his ‘A’ list of players, it seemed that the 18-year-old would be a key part of the team for the European adventure but perhaps this might not be the case.
The midfielder was handed a starting role in Barry Lewtas’ Under-21 side to face Morecambe in the EFL Trophy, meaning it’s seemingly impossible for him to then be part of the travelling squad to face LASK on Thursday evening.
Given that the ‘B’ list of players for the European games is reserved for homegrown talent and the likes of Harvey Elliott and Stefan Bajcetic feature on it, for the manager to select the man born in 2005 in his first group – it seemed that he was amongst the favoured options for game time.
Although there’s still plenty of time to make an impact on the side later in the competition, it’s a perhaps unexpected move after the squad was first revealed.
Let’s hope though that anyone given the chance by the German takes the opportunity with both hands and makes themselves an option for the first-team in the future.
It’s still unknown how seriously we will take the competition this season but this is perhaps an indicator that it will be a feature a little less youth than some had initially expected.
Time will tell though, in what will be an interesting insight into our aspirations to win the tournament in Dublin at the end of the campaign.
You can view confirmation of the Liverpool squad via @neiljonesgoal on X:
A new ground ticked off ✅
The Mazuma Stadium, Morecambe, as Liverpool U21s begin their EFL Trophy campaign.
Bobby Clark named in the Reds XI.#LFC 🔴 pic.twitter.com/LY5TVyTNMq
— Neil Jones (@neiljonesgoal) September 19, 2023