Shrewsbury replay will not be the same as the Everton win

The replay Liverpool are forced to play against Shrewsbury won’t be the same as the Everton win in the third round, and this is why.

Jurgen Klopp has confirmed he won’t be selecting any senior players for the game in early February, and said Neil Critchley will take charge of the clash.

Whether you think it’s the right or the wrong decision to go on strike in order to make a point to the authorities doesn’t matter, just don’t think that this will be the same as beating the Toffies with a reduced strength side.

That third round game was decided by one moment of brilliance from Curtis Jones, but also from several excellent stops from Adrian, who won’t be taking part against Shrewsbury. That makes a massive difference.

We also had Adam Lallana pulling the strings in midfield as well as Joe Gomez behind him, while Takumi Minamino was handed his debut and looked bright. Divock Origi also played.

That makes up five players – around half the side – and their absence will create a huge leadership and quality vacuum. It would be wrong to dismiss Shrewsbury because they are a League One side and assume we’ll ease past them. We won’t.

Liverpool couldn’t finish them off when 2-0 up on Sunday, their task will be even harder now. The players who will come in to replace them will have barely got any senior minutes under their belt and it will be a struggle.

Of course, they could still win. With Neco Williams, Ki-Jana Hoever, Harvey Elliot, Pedro Chirivella and Jones there is a fairly strong core who have been collecting first team appearances – but it will be a massive challenge for this young side.

Players will have to step up like they never have before and then hope for a bit of luck. It can be done, but don’t think a victory is assured because we managed to beat an awful Everton.