Jurgen Klopp insists that he will select his best team when Liverpool take on Aston Villa at Anfield on Sunday, despite the Reds having already claimed the Premier League title.
It was thought that the fringe players may be given a run-out for the remaining six games but Klopp is determined to finish the season as strongly as he started it and will call on them as and when they are needed.
“We want to win football games and for winning football games the best players have to be on the pitch,” he said during his pre-match press conference. “And when the young players are part of these best players then they will be on the pitch.
“They are so close, they are really good and they are our future, 100%. But they will not play now because I want to see them in a Premier League game. We don’t give Premier League games as Christmas presents, we cannot do that.
“We just want to do it because that’s the case and the boys are really good. But how I said, it is not like giving appearances or Premier League games away like sweets.
“We have to make sure the best XI on that day is on the pitch and the other guys who fit best in the formation will come on.”
