Jurgen Klopp explains he’ll use ‘all the boys pretty much’ as Liverpool return to action against Lyon today
Jurgen Klopp has explained that all of his Liverpool players that are currently in Dubai and are fit will feature in the friendly clash against Lyon later today.
The Reds are out in the Middle East preparing for the return of domestic football on December 22 with a number of players looking to get some minutes in the tank after not playing competitively since our victory over Southampton last month.
The German tactician has outlined his plans for the clash with the French outfit.
“We will use all the boys pretty much we have here and the boys who are available,” Klopp told LFCTV (via This Is Anfield).
The former Borussia Dortmund boss also discussed when Darwin Nunez will be meeting back up with his Reds teammates.
The 23-year-old was the first Liverpool star to be knocked out of the World Cup after Uruguay failed to progress from the group stages.
Virgil van Dijk, Alisson Becker, Fabinho, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jordan Henderson have since joined the former Benfica forward in being eliminated after their respective nations lost in the quarter-finals.
“The first one who will join us from the World Cup will be Darwin,” said Klopp. “And then we will see who is available for the second and then we go home, and a few days later we play Manchester City. So, [it is] exciting.”
Liverpool will also play AC Milan on Friday and rather bizarrely, no matter what the result is at full-time during our games in Dubai, penalties will be taken.
The points-scoring is also rather unique during our time in the Gulf nation.
If you win a game in 90 minutes you will earn three points, if you then win the shootout that follows you’ll earn an extra point while if the game finishes as a draw you will earn two points.
It’s all a little confusing but Klopp was keen to weigh in on the thinking behind the decisions.
“I don’t need it for the Premier League!” the German said.
“But here it was clear, we had an idea for this tournament and then we need to find a way because it makes no sense that we play three games, it makes no sense that we play Arsenal, so we had four teams and now we play Lyon and AC Milan – Arsenal is doing the same.”
“And if you don’t play all the games, how can we find, in the end, a winner as well? So it helps if you give four points instead of three. I think it’s a nice idea and now we give it a try.”
EOTK Insider: Liverpool’s Two World Cup Winners and 14 Finalists, ahead of Qatar
The post Jurgen Klopp explains he’ll use ‘all the boys pretty much’ as Liverpool return to action against Lyon today appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.