Liverpool centre back/central midfielder Lucas Leiva says the squad were not expecting manager Jurgen Klopp to make so many changes for the EFL Cup fourth round tie against Tottenham yesterday.
The Brazilian said that the players only were made aware on Monday by the Reds boss that he was going to make eleven changes to the side that beat West Brom last weekend, and he feels that as many hadn’t had much game time this season, it showed in the last 20 minutes of the match.
After Daniel Sturridge scored his second goal of the match after 64 minutes to put the Reds 2-0 up, the Reds let Spurs back in to the tie after Erik Lamela won a penalty after a soft challenge from Lucas. Striker Vincent Janssen scored the resulting spot kick making for a nervy last 15 minutes not dissimilar to the West Brom match at the weekend, and Lucas told the club’s official website:
“[Klopp] showed the trust he has in the squad. We probably didn’t expect that many changes until Monday. After 70 minutes we started to struggle a little bit; it’s normal, some of us haven’t played much in the last few weeks. But at the end we showed a lot of hunger and determination to win and get through to the next round.”
The Reds will find out their quarter final opponents after the last three EFL Cup fourth round ties are played tonight.
