18 Feb 2016

Confirmed Liverpool Team: Klopp takes massive risk; 'outstanding' midfielder returns; £42m duo benched

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has named a very strong team for this evenings Europa League clash with Augsburg.

FULL TEAM: Mignolet, Clyne, Toure, Sakho, Moreno, Henderson, Can, Milner, Coutinho, Firmino, Sturridge.

SUBS: Ward, Randall, Caulker, Lucas, Ibe, Origi, Benteke.

Clearly, Klopp is taking the Europa League seriously, but after presiding over an abject regression in the league, he has no choice but try and win the competition.

* Sturridge plays his third game in nine days, which, given his injury history, is just asking for trouble. If Sturridge gets injured, Klopp will only have himself to blame.

* Klopp persists with Sakho and Toure, who kept a clean sheet against Aston Villa at the weekend.

* It always makes me giddy to see Adam Lallana's name missing from the team-sheet, though the elation is quickly replaced by nausea at the realisation that Emre Can is in the starting XI.

As is always the case after a decent result, Liverpool players have been massaging each others' egos all week, with Henderson salivating over 'world-class' Sturridge, Clyne fawning over Coutinho, and Klopp prematurely claiming Liverpool can win the entire competition.

Liverpool usually crash back down to earth with a bang after such unearned overconfidence/gloating, and I suspect the same thing will happen again today.

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Author: Jaimie K


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