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Jurgen Klopp substituted goalscorer Mohamed Salah during the Merseyside derby only to see his team once again drop a lead and settle for a draw against Everton. At the time, this decision was met with some skepticism that then turned into criticism once that final whistle blew.
However, in the days since, and as we ramp up to Wednesday’s game against West Brom, Klopp has explained his decision, admitting that Salah was having some hamstring problems mid-game.
“I took Mo Salah off because he had a hamstring a little bit,” Klopp said.
“Then everyone said ‘how can you take him off?’ and stuff like this. I don’t go out and say ‘yeah, but he is close to being injured.’ He is not at the moment, thank God. Hopefully we took him off early enough.”
It makes sense, given the way that Liverpool self-destructed in January thanks to injuries and fatigue, that the manager would be unwilling to risk the league’s best player leading into the packed festive schedule.
It remains to be seen whether Klopp will play Salah against West Brom on Wednesday, since this might be the right game to rest him.