Danny Ings Return a Boost as Liverpool Close Premier League Season at West Brom

THE HAWTHORNS, West Bromwich — With all eyes on Wednesday night’s UEFA Europa League final—a clash with La Liga challenger Sevilla and Liverpool that promises a place in the UEFA Champions League for the victor—Liverpool’s trip to the West Midlands to take on West Bromwich Albion on Sunday was something of a sideshow.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp seemingly acknowledged this, despite his insistence to the contrary prior to the contest, in making 11 changes to his side from Wednesday night’s 1-1 draw at home to Chelsea. The German coach rested his key names in Sunday’s 1-1 tie against West Brom with one eye on midweek and Basel’s St. Jakob-Park.

Furthermore, with Salomon Rondon’s opener cancelled out by a wonderful solo effort from Jordon Ibe and the Reds taking a single point away from the Hawthorns, Klopp’s Premier League hopes were drained.

Held to a draw by Tony Pulis’ Baggies on the final day of the domestic season, this was little more than a routine clash for Liverpool, with an eighth-placed finish ensuring that it’s win or bust against Sevilla on Wednesday.

However, Klopp can still take some major positives from this score draw. Danny Ings returned after seven months out with an ACL injury, leading the way as Klopp analyses the result.

Among those 11 changes on Sunday afternoon, Klopp named youngsters Brad Smith, Kevin Stewart, Cameron Brannagan and Sheyi Ojo to his starting lineup, joining their more experienced youth colleagues Ibe and Jon Flanagan in a side with an average age of just 24 years.

Klopp fielded his side in a 4-3-3 formation, with Flanagan and Smith flanking experienced defensive pairing Lucas Leiva and Martin Skrtel, as Adam Bogdan took up position in goal.

Alongside Brannagan—the under-21s captain making his full league debut—and Stewart, Joe Allen took the reins as midfield general by operating in a box-to-box role to support wingers Ojo and Ibe and lone centre-forward Christian Benteke.

As Klopp explained after the game, Liverpool looked to frustrate the Baggies by “[keeping] the ball as long as possible.” His side enjoyed 67 percent of the possession, as well as completing 85 percent of their attempted passes to West Brom’s 66 percent.

Much of this was due to the technical quality of Brannagan in the central role in midfield. He …

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