Jurgen Klopp pinpoints four Liverpool ‘crimes’ he’s committed during quadruple bid

Jurgen Klopp lauded his Liverpool fringe men as they ensured the Premier League title race will go down to the wire following a 2-1 victory over Southampton

Klopp made nine changes to his Reds starting line-up that defeated Chelsea in the FA Cup final on penalties last weekend.

Key men such as Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Sadio Mane were not in the squad at St Mary’s.

It was a risky move from the Liverpool boss, with the likes of Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott and Takumi Minamino coming into the team - despite firmly being on the Anfield periphery of late.

But the decision reaped the rewards. Liverpool battled from behind with goals from Minamino and Joel Matip ensuring the Reds moved within one point of Manchester City ahead of Sunday's final set of fixtures.

And Klopp admitted it's a 'crime' some of his troops have not featured more frequently as the Reds' bid for an unprecedented quadruple remains alive.

What’s been said

The Anfield chief told Sky Sports: "What can I say about this group? It's a bit overwhelming and really touching.

“What I did to a few of them, and had to do because of the situation, is pretty much a crime that Takumi Minamino doesn't play very often, Oxlade (Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain) - who is in outstanding shape - is not in the squad very often, Harvey didn't play for a long time, Curtis didn't play for a long time.

“All these boys deliver and deliver and deliver and it's unbelievable making nine changes and this kind of performance is exceptional.

“We will never know 100% but we would have had much more problems if we would have played the guys who played 120 minutes on Saturday. Really happy, we keep going.”

‘I loved it’

Despite many of his Liverpool troops being short of full match sharpness - with Alisson Becker and Ibou Konate the only survivors from the FA Cup final - Klopp relished watching his side’s victory.

He added: “I loved it. There were so many good things.

“I ask for a lot and, to be honest, I’m not sure if that’s still OK.

“I saw them enjoy the game. I saw them really playing football against a side who were ready to go for us, to press and they couldn’t because we played in all the spaces.

“They had a good spell in the second half, we made the changes then changed it back and didn;t play enough football anymore but that’s it, pretty much.”