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  • Mar, Mon, 2020
Sport

Liverpool won’t field weakened team in FA Cup tie at Chelsea, Klopp says

Team
London, March 2, 2020 (Reuters/NAN) Liverpool’s regulars will return to the starting line-up for Tuesday’s FA Cup clash at Chelsea, manager Juergen Klopp said on Monday.

The Anfield club had fielded their under-23 players in the previous round.

Liverpool’s under-23 side, led by their former coach Neil Critchley, beat third-tier side Shrewsbury Town in a fourth round replay.

This was after Klopp refused to field senior players since the match was played during the winter break of the English Premier League (EPL).

Liverpool also fielded a young side in the League Cup against Aston Villa —- a game they lost 0-5.

This was due to a fixture crunch while the senior side were playing in the FIFA Club World Cup in Qatar, which they won.

Klopp has now said he would take no chances as they looked to progress.

“It’s a different situation to the last round. The team that played at Shrewsbury was a team that made sense for us at that moment.

“We didn’t get the result we wanted, so we had to play a different team in the replay,” he told reporters.

“It won’t be the team that played Aston Villa and Shrewsbury, for sure. There will be boys in the squad, but if they start we will see.

“The team that played at Shrewsbury was an FA Cup team at that moment.

“If Chelsea make changes, I don’t know if they will, it will still be a very experienced team… It’s the last 16 of the FA Cup and we want to go through.”

A 0-3 loss at Watford over the weekend ended Liverpool’s unbeaten EPL run and many criticised centre-back Dejan Lovren for giving their strikers opportunities to score.

But Klopp was quick to jump to the centre-back’s defence.

“If anyone blames Dejan Lovren for our defeat, I can’t help these people,” Klopp said. “It was a massive challenge for Dejan to play against Troy Deeney. Joe Gomez has had similar problems.

“Both Dejan and Joe have played sensational games for us in this position. Fitness and rhythm is the most difficult to get in professional football. Dejan is an outstanding centre-half.

“If you can tell me one player from Saturday that played at his normal level, I would be surprised.”

However, Klopp said the performance at Vicarage Road would have no bearing on team selection for the trip to Stamford Bridge.

“The defeat has nothing to do with line-up tomorrow (Tuesday) night,” he added. “We always play with a team which gives us the best chance to reach the next round.”(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)

  • Mar, Mon, 2020
Sport

Lampard bemoans Chelsea’s injury crisis ahead of FA Cup tie against Liverpool

Crisis
London, March 2, 2020 (Reuters/NAN) Chelsea’s progress has been severely dented this season due to a number of injury setbacks, manager Frank Lampard said on Monday.

Lampard said several senior players would be unavailable for Tuesday’s FA Cup fifth round clash with Liverpool as a result of this.

Players such as influential midfielder N’Golo Kante have had a stop-start campaign while others like Antonio Rudiger have either returned from injury recently or been sidelined like winger Christian Pulisic.

“There were a few (injuries) overlapping from last year, which were huge: N’Golo Kante, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Antonio Rudiger.

“It’s been an issue and now we have another bulk,” Lampard told reporters when asked why Chelsea have struggled.

“There are no fresh returns from the injury list. Andreas Christensen has got a small issue which we are going to give another 24 hours, but probably puts him in out of the game.

“Other than that we have no Tammy Abraham, no Pulisic, no Hudson-Odoi and no Kante.”

Abraham, who is the club’s leading goal scorer this season with 15 goals in all competitions, suffered an ankle injury, with Lampard having no update on his return to the side.

“(Abraham) went to Barcelona to get another set of eyes on it,” Lampard added. “He came back relatively positive.

“Unfortunately, he’s a bit unwell at the moment. So, he’s been off for a couple of days with a bit of a bug. There’s no update, no idea when he’ll be back.

“Christian has had a big phase out and is desperate to get back. When (they can return) I’m not giving an answer… I can’t see the answer.

“I’m hoping they might be fit over the next week or two, I just can’t say it with clarity.”

English Premier League (EPL) leaders Liverpool lost their first league game of the season at Watford over the weekend.

Even though Lampard believes it proved they were vulnerable, he said they have still had an “incredible season”.

“They’ve become relatively human. But it’s one game,” Lampard said. “They’re a strong team and they’ve been out on their own this season.

“We will have to be at our best. I don’t mind playing midweek. The FA Cup is a huge competition. Evening games bring a different atmosphere and playing Liverpool is always big for us.”(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)