Front Three Sub Due to Mané’s Dead Leg and Need for Defensive Intensity

Remember, it’s five subs in the Champions League.

It was probably a little surprising to see all three members of
Liverpool’s front three come off at the same time at
the 60 minute mark. This was made possible because of the five
substitute rule in European football this season (The English clubs
voted to revert back to three). The main reason as explained by
Jürgen Klopp was that Sadio Mané had been nursing a dead leg for a
few days now, although it is not expected to persist:

“Sadio has still since a few days a dead leg. In that area, it’s
still painful but it’s not a problem. When he doesn’t play he puts
ice on it.”

The decision to pull Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino off as well was influenced by
the game becoming more open in the second half. Diogo Jota, Takumi
Minamino and Xherdan Shaqiri were the ones who stepped onto
the pitch in their places:

“The game became pretty wild, we had to defend really altogether
and we defend in a 4-5-1 which means both wingers have to be really
involved in defending. And then in the moment there were incredibly
big spaces for the counter attack. And we thought it’d make sense
to bring their fresh legs because all three who came on are in
really good shape, fresh, in a tricky, difficult game on a
difficult pitch. That helps a lot. And you saw, they all really
helped a lot. Takumi, in both directions, incredible between the
lines, and Diogo is a machine, he can punish opponents in a
one-on-one situation. We had these moments but we didn’t finish it
off unfortunately but it’s completely fine.”

Jota and Minamino looked really lively, and were a threat to
score with their graft and intelligent movement. Now that Liverpool
has backup attacking options where the drop-off isn’t as drastic,
we can expect Klopp to flex this new-found depth and play them
fairly often, giving the front three some much-needed rest along
the way.

Scores of Lagosians have broken into a warehouse in the Amuwo
area of Lagos State where COVID-19 palliatives were being
stored.

Viral videos on social media on Thursday showed people packing
out bags and cartons of the palliatives which were ought to have
been shared by government to cushion the negative impact of the
COVID-19 pandemic on the economy.

Also spotted in one of the videos, was a van belonging to a
joint Internal Security Operational platform, OP MESA, with people
loading the vehicle with the palliatives.

In a swift reaction, the state government has, however, debunked
reports that the palliatives had been stored in there for
months.

Chief Press Secretary to Governor Sanwo-Olu, Gboyega Akosile, in
a tweet described the comments as ‘falsehood and inciting’.

“The government didn’t lock the food packs in. They’re in
warehouse for distribution,” he said.

According to him, the governor only received the palliatives on
September 22, less than a month ago.

Akosile further explained that Governor Sanwo-Olu had used his
personal and state resources to get food palliatives for vulnerable
Lagosians even before the contributions from the Coalition Against
COVID (CA-COVID).

This is coming amid the chaos, series of destruction and looting
that has occurred in many areas of the state.

Major malls, shops, businesses and even vehicles have been burnt
down – part of an aftermath of shootings that occurred on Tuesday
at the Lekki Toll Gate area of the state.

Peaceful protesters had gathered despite a curfew imposed to end
spiralling protests over police brutality and deep-rooted social
grievances.

At the Lekki Toll Gate which has been one of the major
converging points, peaceful and unarmed protesters, however, defied
the curfew and stayed put, hours after it was to have
commenced.

The situation took a turn for the worse around 7:00 pm when the
security operatives stormed the area and started shooting
sporadically.

“It wasn’t to drive us away, it was to kills us,” one of the
protesters who said he saw the armed soldiers, told Channels
Television.

According to Amnesty International, at least 12 people were
killed in the deadly shooting.