Jurgen Klopp has warned his Liverpool squad that he will ring the changes for the trip to Chelsea after their dreadful defeat to Manchester City.
The Reds were hammered by the Premier League title challengers on Saturday, with Klopp's side a shadow of themselves. It was the latest low-point in what has been a disappointing campaign for Liverpool, having challenged to win the quadruple last year.
Their status as perennial trophy challengers is a far cry from their performances this season. They now face a huge battle to finish in the top four, with the defeat to City seeing them crash to eighth in the Premier League table.
The Reds only have a short turnaround for their next game, with a trip to Chelsea coming on Tuesday. And Klopp has promised that he will be wielding the axe on a starting line-up which failed to perform at the Etihad.
"Maybe it's normal when a manager leaves, we have not had a real session between games. We cannot do any intense stuff, so it's more talking," the Reds boss said on Monday.
"That is what we'll do but I am sure Chelsea will look to react. Bayern's game v Dortmund was a reaction (without Nagelsmann). We cannot work on the pitch but we have to show a desire for a reaction, 100 per cent.
HAVE YOUR SAY! What should be Liverpool's starting line-up against Chelsea? Comment below.
"Short turnaround means I have no clue who I can line up. We give the boys as much time as possible to recover but there will be changes, definitely.
"We cannot just continue playing how we do from time to time. I am really disappointed about us that we do this but it happens. We have to find a way out."
Rather than take part in "real" training sessions as Klopp describes, Liverpool's squad instead held crisis talks on Sunday. The run of three successive defeats has left their season heading for disaster.
But star defender Virgil van Dijk is hopeful that Sunday's meeting can help to pull them out of their nosedive. The Netherlands international believes that the forthright nature of the crisis talks will lead to the Reds finding the solutions to their problems.
“If you're losing the way we lost, then definitely there will be some hard talking. That's really normal, we're grown men and we'll see. It was a tough afternoon, definitely. Very frustrated. That's the feeling," he said.
“We're going to have a meeting together, but the turnaround is quite quick, with Chelsea on Tuesday, so tomorrow is a big day. We're trying. Today was frustrating. I think the first-half was quite even.
"Obviously a fantastic goal by Mo, then they scored a good goal as well. Second-half at 2-1 was a big blow and a very frustrating second-half.”
