Liverpool bring the fight on a wet Tuesday night at Stoke but injuries pile up for Klopp

Jurgen Klopp’s ‘fighting football’ didn’t make the trip to Upton Park, but it could be seen covering every blade of grass at the Britannia Stadium in Liverpool's 1-0 League Cup victory over Stoke City.

From the first whistle in the first leg of the League Cup semi-final, the Reds stifled the hosts' attempts to play out from the back. They happily allowed Ryan Shawcross and Philipp Wollscheid possession, before denying them options to offload to and then exerting pressure on the ball.

This was the Liverpool recognisable to Klopp: aggressive, energetic, full of press and intent - not the side which rolled over at West Ham on Saturday, as they did at Watford prior to Christmas.

The German delivered a simple yet stern “not good enough” in the aftermath of their 2-0 defeat against the Hammers. Liverpool responded on a wet Tuesday night in Stoke with their biggest problem not being Mark Hughes’ men, who haven’t been beaten in five of the last six games at the Britannia, but their lengthening injury list: both Philippe Coutinho and Dejan Lovren limped off with hamstring concerns.

Even before kick off, Klopp was forced into a change with Kolo Toure having to replace Mamadou Sakho at the heart of Liverpool’s defence. The Frenchman has a minor knee injury, and following Lovren’s niggle, Lucas ended up at centre-back.

Despite the setbacks, the visitors continued their encouraging play and the opener came after Klopp had to make the two early substitutions. A quick break saw Adam Lallana feed Joe Allen and the midfielder's no-look assist - intentional or not - found Jordon Ibe, who finished expertly. With Stoke looking to get on level terms, Liverpool exposed gaps, but struggled to apply the clinical final move.

They dealt with Stoke’s varied threat well, from the fluidity of the likes of Xherdan Shaqiri and Bojan Krkic to the physicality of Jonathan Walters when Hughes opted to go the aerial route.

This kind of full-throttle display required exceptional industry from Liverpool, and given how packed the medical rooms at Melwood will be, as well as the flooding in of fixtures, it will be interesting to see how the Reds operate in the January window.

On Christmas Eve, Klopp stated the club “will react” to injuries and such situations in the winter market. Since those words, the club have had five fresh setbacks with Jordan Henderson, Divock Origi, Sakho, Coutinho and Lovren out. This week it was revealed that Daniel Sturridge’s ‘mini pre-season’ has also been hindered by a few small problems.

The signing of Serbian starlet Marko Grujic is expected to be announced this week, but the 19-year-old will be loaned back to his current side Red Star Belgrade until the summer. It is hard to imagine Liverpool not doing any other business considering how thin the squad is and the crucial run of fixtures that still awaits.

Klopp’s men are now a step closer to a trophy and are hoping to progress in the FA Cup in three days when they travel to Exeter. After that, Arsenal and Manchester United will visit Anfield and if Liverpool still harbour top-four hopes, they’ll want to further that ambition with wins against both competitors.

Klopp can only work with what he’s got though, and currently, that is a skeleton of a squad.