Liverpool’s £34m young talent demonstrated his calm approach but could be a better fit after German’s departure
Travelling across London for this game the trains seemed full of exhausted‑looking people carrying a medal and a slight limp. Liverpool’s own marathon approaches what they hope will be a similarly rewarded conclusion with only the tiredness guaranteed. They took another weary step towards a potentially positive outcome here, hauling themselves back to parity on points with Arsenal at the top of the table. It was the result they needed, with the team they had to play, and that was enough.
With a nearly fit squad Jürgen Klopp said after the game that “the situation at the moment is as good as it has been all season”, superstitiously banging a table as he did so. It was not just the manager touching wood: he used the flexibility all those fit footballers afforded him to pack his bench with superstars: of the 10 players with the most minutes for Liverpool this season in all competitions seven were among the substitutes. “I hate thinking about the game after the one in front of us,” Klopp said, but with three away fixtures in a week and the second of those at Everton on Wednesday his hand was forced. “We made these changes,” he said, “because we were 100% convinced we had to.”