Liverpool team news: Changes aplenty for Stoke with Roma in mind
Jurgen Klopp has made five changes from the side that beat Roma 5-2 in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final for Saturday’s home meeting with Stoke.
Liverpool still need five points from their last three league matches to guarantee a top-four finish in the Premier League but Klopp has still shuffled his pack this weekend.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Sadio Mane have dropped out of the side because of injury, while James Milner, Dejan Lovren and Andrew Robertson have been named on the bench.
Klopp has called on Danny Ings, Joe Gomez, Ragnar Klavan, Georginio Wijnaldum and Alberto Moreno to add fresh legs to the side.
The Liverpool manager has opted against resting Mohamed Salah ahead of next week’s semi-final second leg and the Egypt international only needs one more goal to set a new record for goals in a 38-game Premier League season.
Salah has scored 31 times in the league this season, equalling the record previously set by Alan Shearer, Cristiano Ronaldo and former Liverpool striker Luis Suarez.
For Stoke, this is simply a must win game for the Potters. Paul Lambert’s side are four points adrift of safety and can be relegated this weekend if they are beaten and other results go against them.
Ominously for Stoke, they have never won a top-flight match at Liverpool, although Lambert is unbeaten at Anfield as a manager (W3, D2).