Liverpool manager Arne Slot freely admitted that the five outfield players who were required to play every minute of the club’s previous three fixtures will not feature in the Carabao Cup third round against Southampton next week.
Slot leaned upon an experienced core for a trio of crunch clashes which resulted in three wins. The Reds were forced to wait until stoppage time to secure a hard-fought victory over Burnley in the Premier League last weekend before hosting Atlético Madrid in midweek.
Despite taking a 2–0 lead in their Champions League opener, the Merseyside outfit again required a late winner from Virgil van Dijk to nab a 3–2 win.
Liverpool delivered the best 45 minutes of their season against Everton on Saturday, racing into another two-goal advantage before the travails of the previous six days began to show. The Toffees pulled one back and forced a shaky conclusion at Anfield.
A record-breaking summer outlay has provided Slot with a formidable squad, allowing the Dutchman to ease Alexander Isak, for example, into the fold following his self-imposed exile over the off-season. However, Slot recognised the effort put in by a familiar quintet in this draining period.
“The good thing is I do have the options to rotate throughout the week and the ones that played three times 90 [minutes] are Virgil [van Dijk], Ibou [Konaté], Mo [Salah], Ryan [Gravenberch] and Dom [Szoboszlai], the ones that are used to this intensity at this level, and again they showed up really good.”
When it was put to Slot if these five players would be involved against Championship opposition in England’s secondary cup competition, he offered his opponents an inside scoop. “I can tell you now you won’t be seeing them on Tuesday,” the jolly coach beamed. “If that’s any help for Southampton then they will know.”
Even with his early selection preview, Slot still has plenty of options to cycle through. Every senior member of Liverpool’s squad was available for Saturday’s Merseyside derby and each player seemed to come through unscathed.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Arne Slot Names Five Stars Who Will Miss Liverpool’s Next Match vs. Southampton.