Jurgen Klopp finds out ramifications of huge decision against Tottenham

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Jurgen Klopp will find out the ramifications of his big decision this week when Liverpool face Tottenham Hotspur. It could well be season-defining.

Jurgen Klopp made a couple of big decisions this week. Firstly, he played some stars against FC Midtjylland when he really didn’t have to.

The result? Diogo Jota is out for up to two months. Not good.

The boss then played his best available XI against Fulham on Sunday. That meant Klopp didn’t rest anyone for the game against Tottenham, which is a very brave decision.

It’s one that didn’t immediately pay off, either, the Reds didn’t win and Joel Matip is now out injured. He might face Spurs but it remains to be seen.

And we mention the Spurs game for good reason – exactly how bad this all is depends on that result.

Make or break

This is pretty undoubtedly the biggest game of the Premier League season. So far, certainly.

Two teams level on points at the top. The champions vs a genuine pretender to the crown. Two managers who have been there before.

The winner gets a valuable three points but, more significantly, creates an aura. If Liverpool win, despite all the injuries, they’re the unstoppable champions.

If Spurs win, they’ll feel like they’re the top dogs now. And you couldn’t really begrudge them that.

Whether each team can carry that aura through to win the title, we don’t yet know. But it’s a powerful thing to have. Liverpool built theirs over the first half of last season and saw out December as obvious champions.

They were champions-elect before they’d even really played half the season.

So if this is such a big game, Klopp’s decision to take risks ahead of it is a huge one. And the result determines how we’ll look at those risks.

We’ll look at them as reckless and needless no matter what. Jota and Matip are both injured, after all, the former for some time.

But beat Spurs and no one will really care. An injured, nearly crippled Liverpool would be alone at the top, looking down from the peak asking the rest of the Premier League if that’s all they’ve got.

Spurs are the most-likely contenders and if they can’t beat this Liverpool, the Reds truly will look unstoppable. Klopp can even risk injuries to players and they’re still the best.

But lose and Liverpool will look beatable. Spurs won’t be the only ones to feel that, either. In that light, it’ll look as though Klopp is making poor decisions and that the Reds are falling apart.