Klopp explains strange Liverpool team as Salah, Alexander-Arnold and co dropped against Chelsea

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has explained that a mixture of reasons prompted him to make significant changes to his team for Tuesday's game at Chelsea. Klopp has left four big names on the bench, including Mohamed Salah, for the Premier League clash at Stamford Bridge.

Salah joins Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andrew Robertson and Cody Gakpo in dropping to the bench after Saturday's 4-1 thrashing at Manchester City.

Virgil van Dijk and Harvey Elliott are also part of the six changes, with both excluded from the squad altogether. Ahead of kick-off in west London, Klopp confirmed that Van Dijk was unavailable but revealed further changes were to provide rest for some and award opportunities to others.

He told Sky Sports: "He [Van Dijk] is unavailable. And all the rest, some get a rest, some need rest, and a lot of players get an opportunity to show up tonight.

"So that's it. We needed fresh legs. It was clear we needed fresh minds as well. So, and I said before, it didn't work out that well last week, so that's a moment where you have to make changes, obviously.

"So I really, really hope that we can show the reaction even when it's not the same team, obviously, but still, as a group, we have to show a reaction.

"Of course [I hope fresh legs and fresh minds will give us more impetus]. That's why you do it. There's no other reason for it. But again, Saturday to Tuesday is always something where you have to think about changes. And if you can do it, I think we always do it.

🗣️ “Virgil [Van Dijk] is not available, some get a rest, some need a rest and a lot of players get an opportunity to show up tonight. We needed fresh legs.”

Jürgen Klopp on his team selection to face Chelsea this evening. pic.twitter.com/XOLFwB7qix