Arne Slot made a total of three changes to his side for the trip to Leipzig, and explained why it was “logical” for Curtis Jones to be replaced by Alexis Mac Allister in the XI.
Liverpool have an intense schedule across multiple competitions, which is why many will have expected more changes to the starting lineup at Leipzig, especially with Arsenal to consider on Sunday.
• READ: Confirmed Liverpool lineup vs. Leipzig as Mac Allister starts
Slot, however, opted to replace Andy Robertson, Jones and Diogo Jota (injured) with Kostas Tsimikas, Mac Allister and Darwin Nunez for Wednesday’s Champions League clash.
Asked pre-match how much the league encounters against Chelsea and Arsenal were considered when selecting his team, 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.
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“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.”
As Slot noted, Jones’ last two starts have seen him withdrawn close to the 90-minute mark and after an injury early in the season, it is wise to protect the midfielder when the opportunity arises.
It does, however, make you wonder why the likes of Jarell Quansah and Wataru Endo are not being utilised more to enable Ibrahima Konate and Ryan Gravenberch to be rotated out of the side.
Perhaps we will see that against Brighton in the League Cup next week.
Further up the field, Nunez gets his chance once again after impressing with his defensive efforts against Chelsea, and Slot is hoping the No. 9 will find his way onto the scoresheet against Leipzig.
“What you’re always hoping that a striker would do, that’s scoring,” he said of what he hopes to see from the Uruguayan.
“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.”
