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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Mark Jones

Jurgen Klopp now knows 9 Liverpool starters vs Man City - and gets message over other 2

We're now at a stage where a Liverpool manager can make seven changes for a Champions League quarter-final and there is barely any mumbling or grumbling from the fanbase.

Elsewhere there might have been some surprise at the sight of just who was in, and who was out, of the side to face Benfica at Anfield on Wednesday evening, but Klopp has reached such a level of complete and utter trust now that it was barely noted by those following his team.

From the outside, those changes represented the tantalising idea that Liverpool could throw this quarter-final tie away, with their 3-1 lead from the first leg that bit more vulnerable having named an XI that look unfamiliar with each other.

But Klopp has total trust in his squad, even if they were often rusty at times up against a determined and often impressive Benfica outfit.

The Portuguese were never going to die wondering at Anfield, with Klopp himself seemingly geeing them up by saying that he would go all out for the win if he were in coach Nelson Verissimo's shoes, and that they did.

Led by the impressive Darwin Nunez in attack, Benfica moved the ball well and proved a difficult task for some of Liverpool's players who you don't often see - the likes of Joe Gomez, Kostas Tsimikas and James Milner - to keep up with at times.

Jordan Henderson and James Milner started in midfield for the Reds (PA)

They progressed through the thirds of the pitch impressively, albeit in a must less threatening way than Manchester City did last weekend and will at Wembley on Saturday.

But then that much is obvious.

It will, of course, be a vastly different Liverpool side which walks out at Wembley for the FA Cup semi-final, with eight of the likely starters for that match spared the full 90 minutes here, and the ninth being the goalkeeper.

Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson, Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, Thiago, Mo Salah and Sadio Mane should be well-rested for City, with none of the former trio setting foot on the pitch and the latter quartet only getting the last half an hour or so.

With Alisson in goal that leaves two more positions in the side, at centre-back and centre-forward, and both of Liverpool's goalscorers here certainly made their case for that selection.

Ibrahima Konate scored a carbon copy of his goal in Lisbon for the opener, before Roberto Firmino's brace took the Reds just far enough from away from even this determined outfit's reach despite their superb late fightback to draw 3-3 on the night.

Enough to state their case for a start against City? That'll depend on how Klopp views Konate's role in often creaky back line, or how Firmino is physically after playing for almost the whole match before being replaced by Divock Origi.

Joel Matip is probably a more likely starter, and Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota are set to begin ahead of Firmino after their early withdrawals.

But Klopp has options, so many options.

And he was given more reminders of that here.

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