Newcastle are the perfect team for Liverpool to rotate against
Liverpool must rotate against Newcastle.
Jurgen Klopp waited until the 83rd minute to make a tactical substitution against West Brom. His previous change, swapping Rhys Williams for Joel Matip, was injury-enforced.
If made one thing clear: Klopp doesn’t really trust the rest of his squad. The manager had good players available to him but chose to send on Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain when it was already too late.
Liverpool had Xherdan Shaqiri and Takumi Minamino waiting on the bench, while Oxlade-Chamberlain would have enjoyed more time to make a positive impact.
Newcastle United are the next team to face the Reds, and they are the perfect side to change things up against. One swap will be essential: Williams will come in for Matip, who looks to be out for a few weeks.
The reason United are the ideal team to try new things against and to rest tired legs against is that they won’t try very hard to win this game. They never try very hard to beat sides that manager Steve Bruce thinks is better than them.
And we know Liverpool are better than the Magpies.
Manchester City had something like 75% possession throughout their game against Newcastle over the weekend. Bruce had his men sit back, cede the whole pitch to City and try to keep the score below 5-0.
They will play like that against Liverpool. They’ll pick Callum Wilson, but he’ll probably stand up top by himself, feeding off scraps and becoming very frustrated. Liverpool will have loads of the ball, so making a few changes at the back shouldn’t present Klopp with any problems.
Williams will have an easier day of it than he did against West Brom. Minamino could start instead of Roberto Firmino because Newcastle concedes goals and position, possession and shots on goal.
Shaqiri could start and give Mo Salah a rest; Salah could then be unleashed from the bench against a tiring defense. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain should start because Bruce will put the Magpies into a low block and we’ll need his creativity and nous.
Next. Liverpool lineup vs Newcastle - Williams and the Ox start. dark
Oxlade-Chamberlain could even start with Curtis Jones, and Gini Wijnaldum could be given a rest. That would be an attacking midfield, but as we’ve seen all season, Newcastle are hardly in a position to take advantage of that.
This is the perfect game for Klopp to rotate, and if he doesn’t, well that says a lot about what he thinks of this squad.