LONDON – Jurgen Klopp said his decision to trust the depth of his squad had been rewarded, after a 3-1 win at Fulham on April 21 took Liverpool level on points with English Premier League leaders Arsenal.
Klopp left a number of key players, including top scorer Mohamed Salah, on the bench with the trip to London coming less than 72 hours after their Europa League exit to Atalanta in Italy.
Trent Alexander-Arnold and Diogo Jota scored on their first league starts for two months, either side of Ryan Gravenberch’s first goal in the EPL, to keep Klopp’s men alive in the title race.
The destiny of the title remains in Manchester City’s hands, with the defending champions one point behind the top two with a game in hand.
However, Liverpool and Arsenal have put the pressure on Pep Guardiola’s men by bouncing back from shock losses in their previous fixtures.
“All of these boys have massive quality. Sometimes the momentum is there, sometimes not, but the quality is insane,” said Klopp.
The German made five changes to the side that won 1-0 but failed to overturn a 3-0 first-leg deficit against Atalanta.
Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Curtis Jones and Ibrahima Konate also dropped to the bench, alongside Salah.
“It’s helped everybody,” added Klopp, on the importance of fresh legs after his side looked jaded in losing at home to Crystal Palace a week earlier.
“For the boys, it’s tough. You have to get through this.
“I liked the performance, I liked the options. It’s a good squad situation. We need all of them. We need to fight through games and we have the (Merseyside) derby to focus on.”
Klopp said ahead of the game that the return of Alexander-Arnold and Jota from injury was what gave his side “a chance” at clawing their way back into the title race.
Alexander-Arnold showed the quality the Reds have been missing when he curled in a stunning free kick to open the scoring on 32 minutes.
Liverpool failed to hold on to the lead until half-time, as Timothy Castagne swept home a loose ball into the far corner after Rodrigo Muniz’s header was blocked.
Klopp had his stellar cast of substitutes warming up after a sluggish start to the second period. But Harvey Elliott intercepted a wayward Alex Iwobi pass on his return to Craven Cottage and teed up Gravenberch to curl in from the edge of the area.
Jota then made the points safe with his 100th goal in English football, his low effort packing too much power for Bernd Leno 18 minutes from time.
Two more away trips at local rivals Everton and West Ham await Liverpool in the next six days.
But, with just five more games of the Klopp era to come, they remain at least in the hunt to give his transformative time at Anfield a glorious goodbye. AFP
