Gary Lineker believes that Liverpool’s lack of squad depth is coming back to bite them following their defeat by Nottingham Forest.
Forest picked up a shock 1-0 win over Jurgen Klopp’s side in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon thanks to Taiwo Awoniyi’s second-half strike. Liverpool were far from their best at the City Ground and were punished when Awoniyi turned in from close range after Ryan Yates struck the post.
Klopp was forced to make five changes to his starting line-up from the side which beat West Ham 1-0 on Wednesday, with Thiago Alcantara and Darwin Nunez both unavailable. He also changed his formation, with Mohamed Salah starting alongside Roberto Firmino up front, with Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota both out injured.
With Joel Matip, Ibrahima Konate, Naby Keita and Arthur Melo all also on the sidelines, Klopp had few options on the substitutes’ bench. Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jordan Henderson were the only changes made by the visitors and Lineker thinks that told the story.
“That’s a spectacular result for @NFFC. Liverpool’s slight lack of depth in their squad proving problematical at present,” he tweeted.
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher had a similar take, tweeting: “Steve Cooper has changed Forest in the last few weeks to be a lot harder to beat, tactically very good again today. Liverpool were awful, what is going on with Fabinho. Konate is needed back ASAP!”
HAVE YOUR SAY! Is Gary Lineker right about Liverpool's squad? What is the club's biggest problem? Comment below.
Klopp spoke about his thread-bare squad in his post-match interview with BT Sport. “We have six days really with a limited squad, playing three high intense games,” he explained.
“[The] City [game last weekend], super intense, then you have to go full distance midweek then Saturday. That’s how it is, you have to fight through. Result-wise we should’ve showed consistency, result-wise we could’ve had by just taking chances.”
Speaking about what is to come, against Ajax in the Champions League next week, he added: “We play Wednesday which means Sunday, Monday, Tuesday to recover. We prepare them for Amsterdam, I hope three players will come back then we make changes again – that’s the situation.”
Thiago missed the game with an ear infection. “Thiago got a bad ear infection overnight,” Klopp explained. “The decision was made this morning at 5.15. That's how it is sometimes, and that's the reason for that.”
Meanwhile, Nunez has a thigh injury. “The game comes too early,” Klopp said pre-match. “He still feels the intensity of the game muscle-wise, so there was no chance he could play today. Maybe he could play tomorrow or on Monday but not today.”
Klopp will be hoping some of his players can recover in time for their upcoming matches. Liverpool travel to Amsterdam to play Ajax on Wednesday before hosting Leeds at Anfield next Saturday.
