Arne Slot has confirmed he will rotate his lineup now the Premier League title is secured, with squad players who “deserve to play” brought in for the final games.
With the title in the bag, Liverpool can aim to finish with as many as 94 points – which would be the fifth-highest of any side crowned Premier League champions.
That would be ideal for Slot, his players and his staff but there will be no major disappointment if that does not prove to be the case.
As the head coach spoke to journalists ahead of the trip to Chelsea, he outlined his plan to rotate for the final four games, with Wataru Endo and Harvey Elliott two players expected to benefit.
“We are going into these four games trying to win them all of course, that’s what we always want,” he explained.
“That’s what every player that wears the Liverpool shirt should aim for: winning a game of football
“I would judge us more on the amount of points we have now compared to teams that won it in the past four games before the end, because there’s definitely a difference if we were still competing now than the games we play now.
“Because my lineups will be different than the one we’ve had mostly during the last 10 months as well.
“We’re not going to change everyone, but there will be a few players that come into the team. There will be a certain rotation in the upcoming games.
“That’s not to say that we are going to lose them, we still have a lot of trust in the players we are going to play now as well.”
Slot is not likely to make considerable changes for any of the remaining games, with Chelsea, Arsenal, Brighton and Crystal Palace all tough opponents, but he will have an eye on next season as he plots his selection.
Whether that includes any players for the future such as Trey Nyoni and Rio Ngumoha – whose campaign with the U21s is already over – remains to be seen.
More likely that is that, along with Endo and Elliott, senior players on the fringes such as Jarell Quansah, Federico Chiesa and perhaps even Caoimhin Kelleher are rewarded as, in Slot’s words, they “deserve to play.”
Asked whether his plan for rotation is more with next season in mind, he replied: “This season as well.
“I think some of them deserved to play already earlier in this season, because they’ve trained so well, they’re good enough to play for this club.
“But I mainly chose the same players and I think this is also a moment to see where they are, also looking towards next season maybe a bit already.
“But definitely also because they deserve to play this season.”
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