Brendan Rodgers has revealed his reasons for making a number of changes to his Liverpool squad for Thursday night's clash with Bordeaux.

The Reds open their European campaign with a trip to France but there will be a number of key senior players not travelling as the manager looks to get some vital minutes into those who haven't featured much this season.

"My approach is what I did in this competition when I first came in: we played players who were needing games and it gives me a chance to look at some younger players and back then we finished top of the group," said Rodgers.

"We will pick a team to win the game. At this stage for me it is really about trying to get a performance level as consequently that will lead to us getting consistent results.

"Some players who I left behind will play [against Norwich on Sunday] but there will be players who play [on Thursday] who will play at the weekend and that opportunity is there."

French defender Mamadou Sakho will make his first appearance of the season while Belgian striker Divock Origi will start for the first time as a Reds player.

The likes of Christian Benteke, Martin Skrtel, Dejan Lovren, Nathaniel Clyne, Lucas Leiva and James Milner have all been rested.