Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp elaborates on why Mohamed Salah was unable to start for Liverpool against Manchester City.
Konate was omitted from today’s lineup following his early withdrawal during Thursday’s 5-1 victory over Sparta Prague in the Europa League semifinals.
Taking his place, Jarell Quansah and captain Virgil van Dijk are named in the starting XI.
Conor Bradley features as the right-back, while Andy Robertson and Kostas Tsimikas, both left-back options, are on the bench. Joe Gomez occupies the left side of the defense.Wataru Endo retains his position as the holding midfielder, with Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister occupying the two “No.8” roles further forward.
Jurgen Klopp faces a significant absence of up to ten first-team players for the crucial match against Manchester City, including Konate.
The unavailable players also include Ben Doak, Thiago Alcantara, Diogo Jota, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Curtis Jones, Ryan Gravenberch, Alisson Becker, Joel Matip, and Stefan Bajcetic.
Regarding Salah’s recent injury concerns, Klopp mentioned that they didn’t contemplate immediately starting him. He clarified in an interview with Sky Sports, “We didn’t even consider him for the starting lineup.”
Klopp emphasized the importance of learning from past experiences and discussing matters with Salah.
He stressed that starting Salah wasn’t a major decision for this game but acknowledged the option to bring him on later, which he deemed “really cool.”
Liverpool’s lineup: Elliott, Nunez, Diaz; Endo, Szoboszlai, Mac Allister; Bradley, Quansah, Van Dijk, Gomez; Kelleher.Today’s lineup for Liverpool against Manchester City sees a few changes, with Konate absent due to his early withdrawal in the previous match. Quansah and van Dijk are in the starting XI, while Salah isn’t considered for the starting lineup due to injury concerns, though Klopp hints at the possibility of bringing him on later in the game. The absence of several key players presents a challenge for Klopp’s squad.