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Double Jürgen Klopp gamble pays off as two major Liverpool decisions now clear

Liverpool made a lot more changes than most expected when it beat Fulham today. Jürgen Klopp will be delighted with how his gamble paid off and what comes next.

Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp said that he rotated his side, as is the modern parlance, rather than anyone being dropped. Given that Alexis Mac Allister was another to be left out of the starting line-up, there is no reason to disbelieve that entirely.

 

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With three matches inside seven days this week (and all away from home at that), there is a need for the Reds to manage things carefully. But there was a reasonable enough question about whether or not Mohamed Salah should start because of his recent form as opposed to anything surrounding any fatigue ahead of a potentially big week.

 

Had Liverpool brought in the likes of Diogo Jota, for his first start after injury, or Ryan Gravenberch, who has struggled for minutes this year, and not won, then questions would have been asked. But Klopp’s gamble paid off in the end: this was a much more convincing performance than Liverpool has put in for a while.

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Liverpool was good against Fulham and took control of the match when it looked like it would be more tricky. Trent Alexander-Arnold’s belting free-kick was canceled out by Timothy Castagne, but Liverpool went ahead again relatively soon.

 

Gravenberch and then Jota found the back of the Fulham net and Liverpool was comfortably able to get across the line. When was that last the case? It might have won against Atalanta on Thursday, but this, for obvious reasons, was different.

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Cody Gakpo retained his place in the side and was excellent playing off the left-hand side. In the end, despite being quiet for large portions of the match, Gravenberch and Jota were too. Liverpool rotated, and it won. Now it should reap the benefits.

 

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We will see on Wednesday against Everton how much this was the game that Klopp chose to rotate and how much was based on recent showings. Mac Allister is a certainty to start at Goodison Park and Salah should be too.

 

But in their absence from the start, Liverpool was better than it has been for a while. There was no outstanding candidate for Player of the Match or anything spectacular aside from the Alexander-Arnold goal, but the Reds got themselves over the line with something to spare. That they did that so convincingly means that there can be some confidence in repeating the trick five more times.

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With five matches now remaining, winning and deserving to win were the only important things. It is one thing resting players ahead of a big week of fixtures in the Premier League title race, but had Liverpool not won here, it would have been over.

 

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Instead, Alexander-Arnold, Gravenberch and Jota’s goals ensure that there is still something to fight for. Salah will have no excuses should he come back into the starting XI against Everton and Mac Allister should look spritely too.

 

In beating Fulham, Liverpool has set up a run-in where there is still much riding on the outcomes. It remains game by game, though, and no matter how much rotation there is at Goodison Park, the lack of a margin for error remains the same.

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