Jurgen Klopp's unusual Liverpool XI vs Brentford is first of its kind for 19 years

Jurgen Klopp picked an unusual starting XI for Liverpool against Brentford on Saturday. It's the first of its kind in 19 years.

Jurgen Klopp was forced into changes on Saturday as his Liverpool squad travelled to Brentford. Injuries keep coming and there was another to worry about ahead of the game today.

Alisson Becker has a hamstring problem, forcing Caoimhin Kelleher into the lineup. At least that will prove good practice ahead of the Carabao Cup final next weekend.

But Dominik Szoboszlai and Trent Alexander-Arnold were also confirmed absentees during the week. You can add those to the likes of Joel Matip, Thiago and Stefan Bajcetic.

All in all, it meant Klopp needed to shift things around a bit and the result was a lineup we haven't seen at Liverpool for 19 years. It featured 11 different nationalities - the first such lineup since facing Bayer Leverkusen in 2005.

In fact, it's only the third time ever. Opta's Michael Reid says today, vs Leverkusen, and vs Yeovil in 2004 are the only times Liverpool have put out a starting XI of unique nationalities.

Here's what Klopp went for:

Caoimhin Kelleher (Ireland)

Conor Bradley (Northern Ireland)

Ibrahima Konaté (France)

Virgil van Dijk (the Netherlands)

Andy Robertson (Scotland)

Wataru Endo (Japan)

Alexis Mac Allister (Argentina)

Curtis Jones (England)

Diogo Jota (Portugal)

Darwin Nunez (Uruguay)

Luis Diaz (Colombia)

Of course, it didn't take long for things to change. A first-half injury to Curtis Jones saw Ryan Gravenberch enter the fray, doubling up on Dutchmen. Cody Gakpo would later come on, too, as a half-time substitute for Darwin Nunez.

Liverpool, then, ended up featuring three-times as many Dutch players as any other nationality against Brentford. Another bizarre stat.

It's a little surprising that Liverpool hadn't already done it this season, though. Dutch (Van Dijk, Gravenberch, Gakpo) and English (Alexander-Arnold, Jones, Joe Gomez, Harvey Elliott) are really the only multi-player nationalities in the first-team squad.

Klopp has always included two of each, though, meaning we only get this unusual quirk of a lineup in February.

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