After a grueling three-goal comeback midweek against Borussia Dortmund, Jürgen Klopp elected to start a younger squad (except for the 35-year-old Kolo Toure and 29-year-old Lucas at the centre of defence).
Danny Ward (22, goalkeeper), Connor Randall (20, right-back), Brad Smith (22, left-back), Kevin Stewart (22, midfielder), and Sheyi Ojo (18, attacker) all started against Bournemouth as the Reds left the south coast with a 2-1 victory through two first half goals from Roberto Firmino and Daniel Sturridge.
All five young players stayed on the pitch for the full 90 minutes, which was impressive considering we have not seen a few of them play in a while, including Ward, who made his Premier League debut in between the pipes.
Starting the youngsters before or after an important match is a tactic we have seen already from Brendan Rodgers, however Rodgers’ lineups very rarely did well. It’s still early days, but it seems Klopp has already figured it out.
Danny Ward, GK
Ward put in a great shift as Simon Mignolet rested. The Welshman was not under a whole lot of pressure except for the goal. He made a few saves here and there (better than Adam Bogdan would have) and could not do much on the goal he conceded.
Connor Randall, RB
Randall defended very well against one of Bournemouth’s most dangerous players, Max Gradel. Other than that, he did not have much to do. Decent shift.
Brad Smith, LB
Smith struggled going forward early on as he failed to connect with Jordon Ibe down the left channel a few times. We have seen Smith quite a bit this season, and this was another one of his average performances.
Kevin Stewart, midfield
Held down the midfield well against the Cherries. Moved the ball with ease back and forth. Limited his giveaways this time around compared to other matches.
Sheyi Ojo, attacker
Started opposite to Ibe and impressed each time he touched the ball. Left defenders for dead at some points. At only 18, he could be a huge player for Liverpool down the road.