Chelsea vs Liverpool: Jurgen Klopp praises Frank Lampard
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp appears to have changed his approach towards the FA Cup. The German has previously made it clear that the competition is not his priority this season but he has picked a very strong team for the fifth-round tie at Chelsea tonight.
Former academy boss Neil Critchley who this week departed to take the first team job at Blackpool was the man in the dugout last time out in the 1-0 replay win over Shrewsbury.
This time around Klopp is back on the touchline and he has rewarded two of the standout performers from that win, with a start in west London.
Neco Williams and Curtis Jones are the lucky two to keep their place, while a number of senior players have a chance to earn some valuable minutes.
The return of the FA Cup also provides an opportunity for rest though and Klopp has seized the opportunity to leave some of his players out.
He decided to leave Alisson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Dejan Lovren and Gini Wijnaldum out of the squad.
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“So many other centre-halves would struggle in this specific situation, Joe has had problems as well.
"Losing the first ball is never the problem, because Troy cannot score from there, so it's about formations around that.
"Both Dejan and Joel Matip have played sensational games for us in this position but you need to be healthy and fit and when you are fit you need rhythm and that is the most difficult thing to get in football. Dejan is an outstanding centre-half.
"You tell me one player on Saturday night who played his normal level and I would be really surprised. It's not because two players didn't play the week before."
Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren was blamed for the 3-0 defeat at Watford (Image: GETTY)
Andy Robertson is asked to go again, despite having minimal rest this season due to there being no back-up left-back.
Naby Keita remains sidelined through injury alongside Jordan Henderson and Xherdan Shaqiri.
James Milner does return to the bench though where he is joined by Andy Lonergan, Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Joel Matip and Pedro Chirivella.
Liverpool XI vs Chelsea: Adrian, Williams, Van Dijk, Gomez, Robertson, Fabinho, Lallana, Jones, Minamino, Mane, Origi.