Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has decided to leave out 12 senior players from his Champions League squad for Wednesday's trip to PSV Eindhoven.
The Merseyside giants have already secured automatic qualification for the last 16 with a game to spare and are the only club in the 36-team table who boast a perfect seven wins from seven matches.
After beating Ligue 1 side Lille 2-1 at Anfield in their penultimate League Phase fixture last week, Liverpool remain top of the table with 21 points, eight clear of five teams between eighth and 13th place who all sit level on points.
Slot has therefore made the decision to omit Alisson Becker, Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Joe Gomez, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Curtis Jones, Mohamed Salah, Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota from his 21-man squad to face PSV.
Explained his thought process behind leaving out several senior stars at a press conference on Tuesday evening, Slot said: "All the players left behind could have played tomorrow, but for the long-term, it doesn't tell us anything about the short-term or Saturday.
"If you look back at our season it's always been after four, five weeks we gave them the break during the week. If there was a moment for them to get some freshness back we've always done that."
© Imago
Slot explains omission of 12 players for PSV clash
"It took me a while to understand the new format, but now I can say I'm 100% sure it doesn't matter if we end up [first] or [second], because we will play 14th, 15th, 16th or 17th [in the last 16] and, in the end, it's a draw.
"This is the game for us because we are now number one or number two, we cannot drop to number three, the result has no importance to the league table.
"But a very wise man once said to me: 'I've never seen anything good come from losing a football game', so we are not going into tomorrow trying to lose the game, we will do everything we can to win it."
The Liverpool boss has also revealed that all those left behind will not be training on Wednesday and will instead have the day off, while a more youthful squad prepares for their trip to Philips Stadion.
"If possible, we always prefer to have them off three days before a game, it's not always possible, but we try," said the Dutchman.
Those players have been given an extra period of rest ahead of the Premier League leaders' tricky away trip to high-flying Bournemouth on Saturday, before the Reds host Tottenham Hotspur in the second leg of their EFL Cup semi-final, which they trail 1-0, next Thursday.
Notable names who have been included in Liverpool's squad to face PSV are Caoimhin Kelleher, Andrew Robertson, Wataru Endo, Harvey Elliott, Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez and Federico Chiesa, who are all in contention to start.
Liverpool's 21-man travelling squad in full:
Goalkeepers: Caoimhin Kelleher, Vitezslav Jaros, Harvey Davies
Defenders: Jarell Quansah, Amara Nallo, Conor Bradley, Andrew Robertson, Kostas Tsimikas, James Norris, Isaac Mabaya
Midfielders: Wataru Endo, Harvey Elliott, James McConnell, Tyler Morton, Trey Nyoni, Kieran Morrison
Attackers: Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez, Federico Chiesa, Jayden Danns, Trent Kone-Doherty
Oliver Thomas
