Jurgen Klopp has heaped praise on the fringe players in his Liverpool squad after they led the Reds to a 2-1 win over Southampton on Tuesday.
With a Champions League final around the corner and Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Fabinho already nursing injuries, Klopp was in no mood to risk his other stars and made nine changes to his lineup for the trip to St Mary’s.
It threatened to backfire after Nathan Redmond’s early opener but Liverpool were on top throughout and goals from Takumi Minamino and Joel Matip steered the team to a 2-1 victory which takes the Premier League title race to the final day of the season.
“I’m so happy with the performance, it’s quite touching. It’s like, wow! These boys!” Klopp said after the game. “It’s like having Ferraris in the garage.”
He added: “I never had a group like this. Because we win most of the time, there is not a lot of things you can really argue about [for team selection].
“But there are two opportunities how you can deal with it – you give up or you just play your role in this group, and this group pushes each other constantly.
“In the end, it is absolutely outstanding and tonight is really special because we came here and did what we did, and it worked out because of the boys.
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“If it had not worked out, it would have been 100% my responsibility, now it worked out and the boys should be really proud of that.”
Liverpool remain one point behind leaders Manchester City heading into the final day of the season, with Klopp needing Pep Guardiola’s side to slip up when they host Aston Villa.
Should City fail to win, Liverpool could move top if they can see off Wolverhampton Wanderers at Anfield
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