Jurgen Klopp took a major risk vs Wolves and it didn’t quite pay off

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Jurgen Klopp took a risk against Wolves by not resting anyone who played in Sunday. It didn’t quite pay off for the Reds’ boss.

Liverpool played just four days ago in one of the most intense games of the season. Now, they outplayed Manchester United – there’s no doubt about that – but events went to the final minute.

It took a 93rd-minute Mohamed Salah goal to completely settle things, in fact. Before that goal, United pushed for an equaliser and didn’t let Liverpool breathe.

So considering Liverpool played Wolves just four days later – arguably a more difficult game – it’s a risk that Klopp played the same XI.

Admittedly, we did see this coming. It does make sense to play your strongest team against a side as good as Wolves. But even if playing that same side made sense, it still carried the risk of overworking this team.

This was always going to be a real test of Liverpool’s fitness. Wolves don’t give up and were sure to push Liverpool to the wire once again. Considering that, using options like Adam Lallana or Divock Origi just to rest players made sense, too.

Klopp took the risk. He decided to play his best team, knowing they risked both tiring and injury. And Liverpool suffered an injury before half-time.

Sadio Mane had to go off after pulling a muscle. Now the hope is that this risk doesn’t leave Liverpool without one of their best players.

And if Liverpool hadn’t somehow pushed on to win the game, you’d say this was a disaster of a decision. Instead, it looks like playing the first-team was the right move to make.

It didn’t quite pay off as well as it could have, thanks to that Mane injury. If it isn’t a long-term issue, however, it’ll be difficult to complain with Klopp’s choice. They just about passed that fitness test.