Klopp discusses Liverpool squad rotation ahead of Stoke

With Liverpool taking on Stoke City in the Capital One Cup semi final on Tuesday evening, ahead of an FA Cup third round tie on Friday, the pressure will really be on Jurgen Klopp to rotate his squad through the week.

But with a total of 9 injuries crippling the first team at the moment, including captain and vice captain Jordan Henderson and James Milner, along with key forwards Daniel Sturridge and Danny Ings, Jurgen has been left with little room to manoeuvre.

And the Reds manager has spoken about how much – or little – he plans to rotate ahead of the game tomorrow. Speaking at his pre-match press conference (via Liverpoolfc.com), Klopp said: “We don’t have that much opportunity for [changes]. It’s not that we have six, seven, eight players to change in this moment, we have always all the squad with us.

“We first of all have to react to the impact the last game had on the players then we have to decide. At the end, it’s always that we go to this game and want to win and for this we make the squad.

“I cannot ignore the situation in the team after this number of games so we have to wait a little bit and use each hour.

“The session today is not a real season, it’s only two days after the game. So, for sure, it’s not possible to make an intensive training.

“I have to talk to Andy [Massey], the doctor, to Chris [Morgan], our head of physiotherapy, and we have to make decisions together.”

The performance at West Ham on Saturday will also have made things difficult as, in a normal season, Klopp would not doubt like to drop a number of first teamers but with a bench on Saturday that included a host of youngsters he isn’t exactly blessed with options at present.

Unfortunately, the manager also revealed in his press conference that both Sturridge and Henderson will take no part in the game, with both still struggling to train, let alone play.

Considering how frequently (and unexpectedly) Liverpool’s players are getting injured at present, it’s a guessing game what sort of side Klopp will be able to field tomorrow night. But considering it’s the most likely source of a trophy this season, it would be a big surprise to see a massively changed side.

Who would you start? Let us know what side you’d go with in the comments below.