David Lynch has hinted at some early Liverpool team news ahead of the Champions League clash against PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday night.
The Reds trained in Kirkby at lunchtime prior to flying out to Netherlands later in the day, with a number of academy youngsters involved in the session as Arne Slot possibly seeks to hand opportunities to those who haven’t featured much (if at all) in first-team action.
Conversely, with LFC already assured of a top-two finish and no jeopardy in this game for them, those who’ve played the most minutes will likely be given a well-earned rest, especially with a tough trip to Bournemouth coming up on Saturday.
Lynch expecting crucial trio to be left at home
Lynch posted an update on his YouTube channel on Tuesday in which he named three Liverpool players who are expected to not even make the trip to Eindhoven, never mind playing at the Philips Stadion tomorrow night.
The journalist said: “It’s my understanding from talking to sources that it’s very, very unlikely that we see Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Ryan Gravenberch travel out.”
He then voiced his agreement with that planned course of action, adding: “For me, that is a very, very good call from the manager. They are the three most-used players in all competitions this season in terms of minutes played, so I think you just need to protect them when you can.
“If you’ve got a game like this coming up, it doesn’t really matter whether you win or lose, in truth. That’s a great opportunity to rest them and leave them out…it’s very unlikely they’ll even be on the plane to Eindhoven.”
No point in taking a needless risk with crucial trio
We imagine that most Liverpool fans will agree with Lynch’s verdict on the rumoured plans for Van Dijk, Salah and Gravenberch to remain on Merseyside and focus instead on the Bournemouth game, which is of far greater significance than tomorrow’s match.
It’s rare that we get a fixture at this stage of the season where the result is inconsequential, so Slot would be wise to take advantage of that luxury and avoid any selection which’d be even slightly risky, especially with those who are one yellow card away from incurring a suspension.
Minds flash back to when the Reds were in a similar situation at the end of the 2020/21 Champions League group phase and Jurgen Klopp made the fateful error of selecting an in-form Diogo Jota for a meaningless tie against Midtjylland, only to see him getting injured and being ruled out for the subsequent three months.
As Lynch correctly points out, the trio of Van Dijk, Salah and Gravenberch have each surpassed 2,500 minutes of game-time already this season (Transfermarkt), so the PSV game represents the perfect chance to let them rest up and allow fringe/academy players to get an opportunity that they’d warmly welcome.
Liverpool’s reward for clinching a top-two berth with a fixture to spare is the scope for widespread rotation, a privilege not afforded to any of the other three English clubs in the Champions League have tomorrow night.
If that’s not a reason to rest our most important players and give others a chance, then what is?
