Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has defended his decision to bench Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino for Saturday's 1-1 draw with Chelsea at Anfield.
Klopp's team selection for the showdown with one of their top-four rivals came as a surprise to many as two of his usual front three began the match amongst the substitutes, with Firmino left on the bench throughout and Mane only introduced in the 89th minute.
However, despite being held to a draw by the champions, Klopp insists that he had little choice but to rest players ahead of a busy fixture schedule which continues with a visit to Stoke City on Wednesday night.
"Yeah [it was difficult to leave Mane and Firmino out], and Wijnaldum. Adam [Lallana] probably would have started, not sure if he was 100%. Difficult in another way. You need to have options, if you don't have options then you are moaning about it, but the line up is easy at the moment and if it stays like this then we will have options," he told reporters.
"We need it, we need it, we need it. All the other teams, the intensity is getting higher. We play again on Wednesday against Stoke, and Saturday and Wednesday and so on. We can not do it without using all the players. That is what we should try to do. We had two little injuries with Emre [Can] and Dejan [Lovren]. That is all, it was not a proper sign of being fatigued or anything, but that is the best way to make changes.
"Actually you have to only decide between fit players. The intensity of the last few weeks we need to consider it. We ran 120km the last game (Sevilla), and that was quite intense, Roberto is playing pretty much all the time so he can not keep putting it through. Mo [Salah] and Sadio, Mo played a little bit more but Sadio was injured so these things you have to think a little bit more.
"And it was all about making a line up for this specific game. Ox deserved every minute he was on the pitch, Daniel [Sturridge] deserved it. They did brilliant really. Millie (James Milner) deserves it all the time, so if you bring these players and don't use them it would be a real waste of quality."
Including the Chelsea match, Liverpool will face 13 games in the space of just over six weeks during the festive period.
Barney Corkhill
