LIVERPOOL // If draws produce few conclusions, this was a lesson in football's essential perversity. Liverpool did not want a replay but got one.
Both Brendan Rodgers and Jurgen Klopp had named first-choice teams against West Ham this season and lost 3-0 and 2-0 respectively. So the German selected his reserves and saw them fare rather better. “We deserved the win,” Klopp said.
Yet a 0-0 draw served few purposes for him. A manager who has complained of a fixture overload has another game to negotiate.
Liverpool are neither in the fifth round of the FA Cup nor out of it. They face a seemingly tougher test at Upton Park next week. West Ham must be favourites to progress.
Ironically if inevitably, however, the most influential stand-in was selected by Slaven Bilic. West Ham owed their draw to their second-string goalkeeper.
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Darren Randolph, playing because first-choice Adrian’s wife went into labour, made a terrific, triple save to frustrate Christian Benteke, who had two attempts, and Joe Allen. He had thwarted Joao Teixeira twice and Cameron Brannagan.
The mention of the two rookie midfielders is a sign that Liverpool’s premier players were elsewhere. Amid the ongoing debate about the significance of a downgraded competition, Klopp gave an indication of an import’s opinion.
Injuries have been a constant in his reign. Liverpool have a league campaign, a Europa League run and a League Cup final to consider. The FA Cup seems the fourth most important for him.
Klopp selected five men who had never started a league game for Liverpool; of that quintet, only the borrowed Steven Caulker had begun a top-flight game at all.
West Ham might have been awarded a penalty when Caulker handled. After the centre-back’s strange start to his unexpected Anfield career, when Klopp sent him on twice as an emergency striker, his first start at least came in defence.
He capped it with a clean sheet, too, helped by a wretched finish from Enner Valencia when Aaron Cresswell found the unmarked striker.
It was a rare West Ham chance. Liverpool were the brighter. Understudies gelled, albeit without demonstrating much of a cutting edge. Brannagan, a creative midfielder whose performances for Liverpool’s junior sides have earned him admirers, showed his precocity.
This FA Cup run has brought progress for him. It is a sign of regression that Benteke has started all three games.
He was unable to find the net in either encounter with Exeter. He had another near-miss when his header was cleared off the line by Cresswell. He endured a ninth successive game without a goal. West Ham, beaten only once in 12, extended their fine run.
But they may have received a warning about the perils of picking a stronger side. Both James Tomkins and Cheikhou Kouyate went off injured before half time.
Liverpool at least took precautions to ensure their injury problems were not exacerbated.
“The 10 players we changed today were off,” said Klopp. “Hopefully nothing happened to them at home.”
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