Arne Slot's decision to drop Mohamed Salah for Liverpool's game against West Ham comes after Wayne Rooney advised him to do so last week.
Salah is on the bench for the game at the London Stadium, with Slot selecting a front three comprising Florian Wirtz, Cody Gakpo and Alexander Isak.
Egypt star Salah has faced criticism for his performances this season, but he is still the Reds' second-top scorer behind new signing Hugo Ekitike.
Speaking after Liverpool was beaten 3-0 by Nottingham Forest a week ago, Rooney said that Salah's defensive work rate was an issue as he called for the Reds boss to make a big call on his star player.
"If I was Slot, I'd try and make a big decision just so it has an impact on the rest of the team," said Rooney in a podcast episode. "Salah is not helping them defensively.
"If you're one of the players who they've signed and you're on the bench and you've seen him not running - and again he's a club legend and everything he's done for the club - but if you're on the bench, then what message does that send to you?"
Salah started Liverpool's next game after the loss to Nottingham Forest, but produced another poor performance as the Reds were hammered 4-1 by PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League.
Wirtz's return to fitness, after he missed the last couple of games due to a muscle injury, has seen him go straight back into the team at Salah's expense.
Slot explained his decision to leave Salah out of the team in a pre-game interview with Sky Sports, as he said that he was merely rotating his players during a busy period in the season.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Slot said: "We play four games in 10 days. I have many good players and today, I chose a different line up. Sometimes Florian and Alex have been on the bench. It is also about the players who start and that is the 11 I chose."