‘I am surprised…’ – Liverpool journalist stunned by one inclusion in Reds’ starting XI tonight

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As expected, Andoni Iraola has heavily rotated his Liverpool starting XI for tonight’s Carabao Cup fourth-round clash against Chelsea, but there are still some big names kept in the side.There are seven alterations from the side which began the 2-o win over Brighton on Sunday, with Ronald Araujo, Ryan Gravenberch, Cody Gakpo and – surprisingly – Virgil van Dijk the four to keep their places from the weekend.The captain has been virtually ever-present for the Reds so far this season, other than his omission against Tottenham in the previous round of this tournament against, and 28 minutes off the bench in the Champions League win over LASK a fortnight ago (Transfermarkt), but he isn’t given a rest tonight.Paul Gorst stunned by Liverpool team newsWhen the team news was announced 75 minutes before kick-off, Liverpool Echo reporter Paul Gorst was immediately drawn to the 35-year-old’s inclusion in the starting XI.The journalist wrote on the publication’s live matchday blog: ‘I am surprised Van Dijk starts and I suspect Araujo will begin in the right-back position.’ (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)Want more Empire of the Kop coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trustIraola’s hand forced by defensive injuriesEven with seven changes from the Brighton game, Iraola has still included plenty of experience in the Liverpool side, with Joe Gomez coming in to partner Van Dijk at cnetre-back and Gakpo, Gravenberch, Araujo and Kostas Tsimikas all starting.The head coach would probably like to have rested the captain tonight, but his defensive options are limited by injuries to Giovanni Leoni, Conor Bradley and Jeremie Frimpong.It seemed likely to be one of Van Dijk or Jeremy Jacquet being omitted from the starting XI, and it’s the Frenchman who drops to the substitutes’ bench, having played even more minutes than the skipper so far this season (956 to 928).Arne Slot was criticised for fielding a callow line-up against Crystal Palace in this stage of the Carabao Cup a year ago, but Iraola has sensibly gone with a mixture of youth and experience, with Alexander Isak, Bradley Barcola and Florian Wirtz available off the bench if needed.Here’s hoping that everyone featuring against Chelsea will come through unscathed and there’ll be no fresh injury concerns for the massive Premier League showdown at home to Arsenal next Sunday.