The Carabao cannot be used so frivolously with the final on the horizon, nor the Champions League when the Reds re-enter at the knockout stage. Liverpool boast a six-point gap at the Premier League summit but even that stage is too risky to grant players cursory run-outs in the hope they can contribute when crunch time comes.

Liverpool has just suffered a shock defeat, being eliminated from the FA Cup by Plymouth Argyle in one of the competition’s latest surprises. The Reds were one of the favourites to win, and many expected them to breeze past the struggling hosts.