Jürgen Klopp said Liverpool’s FA Cup win at Wolves would help restore belief around Anfield and give him a selection dilemma for Chelsea’s visit in the Premier League on Saturday.
The Liverpool manager made eight changes from the woeful weekend defeat at Brighton for the third round replay and was rewarded with a more compact, resolute display capped by Harvey Elliott’s superb winning goal. Klopp admitted his team could ill-afford a repeat of their performances at Brighton and Brentford, where defeats damaged Liverpool’s prospects of a top-four finish, and would regain confidence from a first win in 2023.
“We know we only get into the next round, but tonight is an important sign for us that these kinds of things are possible and for our people at home,” the Liverpool manager said. “There is a massive game coming up at the weekend. If we had played another game like the last one I am not sure what the people would have thought before they arrived in the stadium. Now they have something to look forward to and we will fight together again.”
Klopp described victory at Molineux as a perfect response to defeat at the Amex Stadium. He added: “It was the reaction we needed to show. We were compact, we were together, we had really good challenges, when we got the ball we played really good football and we scored an exceptional goal. Harvey saw something not a lot of people saw.
“If I had been a goalie I would not have expected a shot in that moment. The game was much different to the last one obviously. All the individual performances were good. We were together wherever we were. I said to the boys that is how it feels when you play well and win. We can’t remember it any more because it was so long since that was the case but that is why we are quite happy.”
The Liverpool manager said “the oldest and youngest were really exceptional” – James Milner and Stefan Bajcetic – and admitted several players had played their way into his plans for Chelsea.
Klopp said: “I don’t think it would be right after one game to say this will be the team for the next eight weeks. I hope Darwin [Núñez] is coming back in training tomorrow or Thursday and he might be in contention. We are not in a casting show but the door is open to everyone. We have to fight and whoever is ready to fight has a good chance to play.”
