Arne Slot made three changes to his starting lineup for the trip to Leipzig, explaining why it was “logical” for Curtis Jones to be replaced by Alexis Mac Allister.
With Liverpool facing a congested fixture schedule across multiple competitions, many expected more rotation in the starting XI, especially with a crucial match against Arsenal looming on Sunday.
However, Slot opted for only a few tweaks, bringing in Kostas Tsimikas, Mac Allister, and Darwin Nunez for Andy Robertson, Jones, and the injured Diogo Jota in Wednesday’s Champions League clash.
When asked pre-match how much the upcoming Premier League encounters with Chelsea and Arsenal factored into his selection, Slot told TNT Sports: “Not that much, to be honest.
“I’ve tried to pick, in my personal opinion, the best possible team tonight but, of course, you take into account that we played only two days ago.
“So that means, for example, that Kostas is playing instead of Robbo.
“For Curtis Jones, I think in everyone’s opinion, he was the best player on the pitch [vs. Chelsea].
“But if you dive a bit deeper into it, he’s only played two games this season from the start and didn’t finish any of the two, so for me it was a bit too early to two days later play him again.
“And if you have Macca, who is back from being sick, it is, in my opinion, a logical choice to make.”
On Nunez starting, Slot added: “What you’re always hoping that a striker would do, that’s scoring.
“But apart from scoring, also Darwin when he came in against Chelsea showed how important he was for us also without the ball with his pressing.
“But in the end, strikers are on the teamsheet mostly for scoring, so I’m hoping he can bring that to us today.”
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