Here is your Liverpool morning digest on Tuesday, March 9.
Klopp takes Champions League gamble as Liverpool face European repeat
Jurgen Klopp had been hinting heavily at what was to come during the build-up to Sunday's visit of Fulham and the second the teamsheet dropped at Anfield, all was confirmed.
When pressed on the seven changes to the starting line-up for the clash with the Cottagers, the Reds boss said: "We needed to make five changes. Then we decided to make another two on top of that."
Were Liverpool in the midst of a genuine top-four challenge - let alone the hunt for the title - such an overhaul would have been unlikely.
But that the Reds are instead floundering towards the middle of the table has prompted Klopp to make a pragmatic decision.
The focus now is, first and foremost, on the Champions League.
Of course, Klopp could never say he was throwing the towel in regards the Premier League. Liverpool are, after all, still the reigning champions having thrillingly ended the club's 30-year wait for the title last season.
It's clear, though, the priority lies in ensuring the European campaign continues much deeper into the competition.
Certainly, elimination on Wednesday in Budapest against RB Leipzig, with the Reds 2-0 up from the first leg of their round of 16 tie, opens up the alarming possibility of the Reds freewheeling their way towards the end of the season.
Nobody at Anfield wants that. And there have been previous occasions Europe has salvaged an otherwise testing term.
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Hamann hits out at squad
Liverpool Champions League winner Dietmar Hamann believes Jurgen Klopp has lost faith in his players after their capitulation in the Premier League this season.
A run of six consecutive home defeats in the Premier League has seen the defending champions slump to eighth in the table, leaving the midfielder, who turned out for the Reds between 1999-2006 concerned.
Hamann told talkSPORT: “Every week you think ‘this can’t get any worse’ and the next week it does get worse!
“It’s a terrible run they’re on; to lose six home games is not what champions do, it’s not what Liverpool do.
“I’m not sure whether there’s something wrong within the team and behind the scenes, but clearly something’s not right. Champions League qualification for next year now looks very unlikely.
“It was a must-win game if they wanted to stay in the hunt for fourth place; I was surprised by how many changes Jurgen Klopp made.
"Klopp hasn’t got an awful lot of faith in his players at the moment, and it shows.
“He probably thought we make the changes now and see how it goes against Fulham, because it probably gives us a better chance against RB Leipzig midweek, where they are in a very commanding position; you’d expect them to go through.
“But they have no confidence, there’s just no spark and I haven’t got the feeling that everybody is doing their utmost to get out of their situation and it’s a very worrying time.”
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