SOUTHAMPTON, England — After a case of history repeating, Liverpool have earned the chance to find out if destiny is calling.
The Premier League title race will go to the final day of the season after Takumi Minamino and Joel Matip struck to overturn Nathan Redmond’s 13th-minute opener to ensure the Reds beat Southampton 2-1 here at St. Mary’s Stadium.
For the second time in seven days, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp made a host of changes, watched his team fall behind before responding impressively to earn a deserved win on Tuesday. Last week it was Aston Villa, and although Southampton were much more culpable, this still felt like a stiffer test of Liverpool’s resolve, coming less than 72 hours after their marathon FA Cup final win over Chelsea on penalties, a draining exertion that prompted nine changes to Klopp’s starting lineup.
Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk were missing as expected after picking up injuries at Wembley, but the sheer volume of absentees felt even greater than first feared: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andrew Robertson and Sadio Mane were all left out completely while Thiago Alcantara, Naby Keita, Jordan Henderson and Luis Diaz were rotated onto the bench.
To perfectly encapsulate the madcap menagerie Klopp assembled for this task, James Milner began as a No. 6 with Harvey Elliott playing slightly ahead of him in midfield. It was the first time they had even been named in a starting lineup together, and Milner, 36, made his Premier League debut in November 2002, 145 days before Elliott was born.
Liverpool really are a team for the ages. The quadruple bid remains alive, albeit firmly in the balance with Manchester City holding a one-point advantage ahead of Sunday’s final round of matches.
“Making nine changes, if it hadn’t have worked out it would have been 1,000 percent my responsibility,” Klopp said. “Now it worked out and it is 1,000 percent the boys’ responsibility because I can ask for a lot, the boys have to do it. I thought they did…
Source : espn
