Liverpool head to Bournemouth this weekend with Arne Slot able to rest a number of key stars ahead of the trip down south.
With a place in the knockout stages of the Champions League already sealed, the Reds made the trip to PSV Eindhoven midweek without Alisson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Mohamed Salah and Luis Diaz.
Cody Gakpo was among the few senior players to travel, scoring against his former club in an entertaining 3-2 defeat.
It means Arne Slot has a refreshed and rested squad to work with ahead of a meeting against a Bournemouth side in thrilling form, fresh from a 5-0 thrashing of Nottingham Forest last weekend.
The Cherries have already secured big wins away to Manchester United and Newcastle United, held Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and beaten Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham on their own turf this season.
Liverpool meanwhile received a boost this week with Joe Gomez returning to training after his recent thigh problem.
Curtis Jones missed last weekend’s victory over Ipswich Town with a groin issue and is likely to remain unavailable.
Diogo Jota meanwhile has missed the last two weeks of action with a muscle problem and is still to rejoin the squad.
Liverpool sit six points clear of Arsenal at the top of the Premier League with a game still in hand – they Merseyside derby that is now shifting into focus on its rearranged date of 12 February.
With the Gunners in action against Manchester City this week, Slot and his side could widen their lead at the top if there are more dropped points at the Emirates.
Predicted Liverpool XI to face Bournemouth
Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, van Dijk, Robertson, Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Salah, Szoboszlai, Diaz, Nunez
Where to watch Bournemouth vs Liverpool? Kick-off time and TV channel
Bournemouth vs Liverpool kicks off at 3pm on Saturday 1 February.
Given that timeslot, the match will not be broadcast live in the UK.
But you can follow all the action with Metro’s live matchday blog.
MORE: England legend Wayne Rooney names Chelsea star Thomas Tuchel should build team around
MORE: Tottenham push to sign £24m attacker ahead of Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea
MORE: What Thierry Henry has said about ‘extraordinary’ Arsenal and Man Utd target Mathys Tel
