Jürgen Klopp’s last dance is being performed by wearying limbs. Liverpool’s injury list continues to grow and if the given reason for Klopp’s departure is his running out of energy, he may also be running out of players. Victory at Brentford kept Liverpool top of the Premier League but only after injuries to important players in Curtis Jones, Darwin Núñez, scorer of an incisive opener, and Diogo Jota, provider for that goal. “As long as we have 11 players we will go for it,” Klopp said after Liverpool had seen out what he described as a “very good game in difficult circumstances.”
Klopp’s squad is stretched to its limits when Manchester City have Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne looking fresh as spring lambs. At least Mohamed Salah, an emergency first-half substitute, was back in harness, supplying the assist for Alexis Mac Allister and then scoring Liverpool’s third, his return hugely timely. On his arrival, he initially looked rusty, including a miss at the start of the second half where he got his feet all tangled. But normal service was swiftly resumed, killing off an opponent his manager declared were “annoying” to face.
