Liverpool can afford to let their regulars rest for their last competition phase match in the Champions League with head coach Arne Slot who is not overly concerned about the rankings.
Captain Virgil van Dijk, top scorer Mohamed Salah and goalkeeper Alisson have all been omitted from the matchday team for Wednesday's match in PSV, just like Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ibrahima Konate, Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Diaz.
Liverpool, who is already guaranteed to be a place in the last 16 of the Champions League, also leads the Premier League and is still in the FA Cup and EFL Cup, so they still have many big games this season.
“I think we are playing, just like all the teams in Europe, many, many, many games and these players have already been able to play behind, so all lagging behind,” Slot told reporters.
“If you look back on our season, it has been almost every time after three or four or five weeks, we gave them a break during the week when it was the League Cup or the FA Cup.
“If there was a moment for them to get some freshness back, we have always done that.”
The Stage for Tomorrow's #ucl Action pic.twitter.com/begbb5Dyuh
– Liverpool FC (@LFC) January 28, 2025
Although Liverpool has won all seven games in Europe, they can still be overtaken at the top by Barcelona if they lose at PSV, but sewing the upper spot is not a priority of lock.
Liverpool cannot slide out of the top two and, when it comes to the last-16-drawing game, the first or second will not make no difference to the identity of their next opponents.
“It took me for a while to understand this new size, but I always say that if I think I am 100% sure that I have used 99.9%, but now I can say that I am 100% sure that it is completely Don't matter if we finish first or second, “said Slot.
“Because we will play a side between 15th and 18th place, and in the end it is a draw with which of the teams we will be confronted with.
“So this is a game for us, because we are now number one, or two, we can't fall to number three.
“But a very wise man once said to me, I have never seen anything good about losing a football match, so we're not going to lose the game tomorrow, we will do everything we can try to win of course . “
PSV is 19th at 11 points, and avoiding a defeat against Liverpool would guarantee their place in the Play -Offs.
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