Arne Slot has explained that a concern about Liverpool's mounting number of injuries was the main reason behind the number of changes he made for Wednesday's Carabao Cup tie against Crystal Palace.
The Liverpool head coach made 10 alterations from the weekend defeat to Brentford, and named a staring line-up that contained two debutants in Freddie Woodman and Kieran Morrison. Slot also selected a bench made up entirely of youth-team players, the oldest of which is 21.
But giving youngsters an opportunity to shine was at the forefront of Slot's mind when choosing his team for the fourth-round encounter, despite the recent downturn in form.
"I think people who know this club and have followed this club for many years, know that in this competition we use it for younger players," the Dutchman told Sky Sports ahead of the game.
"We want to help create a pathway for them to play in front of 60,000 people, in front of our own fans. That is one of the reasons.
"The other reason is because we only have four or five injuries, but if I have to play again the same players... I think there are multiple reasons why we have lost so many games, and with all the reasons there are no excuses, but it hasn’t been helpful that almost all the time we only had two days in between the games after we had to play away from home.
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot
Slot is in need of a victory after a poor run of form (Image: Getty Images)
"If we keep playing with the same players, like for example, I tried with Alexander Isak, then with players that missed out on pre-season, that is a big risk to pick up another injury. And we only have, at this moment in time, 15, 16 senior players available."
Liverpool is currently without Alisson, Jeremie Frimpong and Giovanni Leoni.
Ryan Gravenberch and Isak are suffering from niggles, and it's hoped they could be back to face Aston Villa on Saturday.
Curtis Jones lies on the ground
Jones sustained an injury in the defeat to Brentford (Image: 2025 Catherine Ivill - AMA)
Curtis Jones was replaced in the second half of Saturday's defeat at the Gtech Community Stadium, and it's believed his injury is not too severe.
In total, Slot gave Giorgi Mamardashvili, Conor Bradley, Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk, Dominik Szoboszlai, Florian Wirtz, Mohamed Salah, Hugo Ekitike and Cody Gakpo the night off.
Milos Kerkez was the only player to retain his place in the line-up from Saturday's game, while Alexis Mac Allister has been handed a starting berth in midfield.
The selection choice is bold from Slot, with Liverpool losing five of the last six in all competitions and in desperate need of a victory.