Jurgen Klopp didn’t give away any hints about his Liverpool team selection for Thursday’s Europa League clash against LASK, although he’s insisted that he won’t be handing out starts to young or fringe players for the sake of it.
The Reds’ starting line-up for the game in Austria is likely to see several changes from the one which started against Wolves at the weekend, especially with a Premier League clash against West Ham to come on Sunday afternoon.
During this evening’s pre-match press conference, he was asked if he’d give starts to those who’ve seen few minutes this season.
Klopp replied (as per Liverpool Echo): “Absolutely no information about that. You will have to wait until tomorrow, enjoy or don’t. We are here to compete, not to give opportunities for nobody. Not ours and not for them.”
The Liverpool manager’s attitude to the Europa League seems to be clear from his response – he wants to attack this competition from the start and could field strong line-ups if necessary.
Thankfully, the Reds’ squad depth is now good enough that the 56-year-old could make a host of changes from the Wolves game without necessarily looking weaker.
Caoimhin Kelleher is set to be handed a rare start in goal, while the likes of Kostas Tsimikas, Harvey Elliott, Ben Doak and Wataru Endo could feature from the first whistle.
It’ll also be interesting to see if Ryan Gravenberch starts for Liverpool for the first time, and if Jarell Quansah will keep his place with Virgil van Dijk available and Ibrahima Konate returning from injury.
Expect a few changes from Klopp tomorrow, but still a strong line-up for the Reds as they seek to get their Europa League campaign off to a winning start.