Arne Slot had made no more than one change to his starting lineup before the trip to San Siro and now explained why he decided to make two changes to his starting eleven against AC Milan.

The Dutchman was under a lot of pressure to rotate his team given the tight schedule and the defeat to Nottingham Forest was seen as an early lesson.

Many had hoped and expected some changes to the Reds, but Slot settled for two changes: Kostas Tsimikas and Cody Gakpo replaced Andy Robertson and Luis Diaz.

Explaining his reasons before the game to Prime Video, Slot said: “I think I made changes during my first four games as well, but there were more changes during the game.

“Macca was one of those who came back from the national team without injury, but he did not play his last game (for Argentina).”

Mac Allister came off the bench for Argentina after missing training due to adductor problems.

“It’s about managing the minutes,” Slot continued. “The others are doing really well and I have more than 11 good players, so today it’s Cody and Kostas.”

It is interesting that Slot mentioned Alexis Mac Allister’s fitness issues by name, yet has started him twice since returning from Argentina.

As for his expectations for Tsimikas and Gakpo in their first starts this season, he stressed that they have to play their “team role”.

He said: “(I want) similar things that I want to see from the others. It’s not about them, it’s about the team.”

“They just have to play their roles in the team to the best of their ability and if they can do that, hopefully one of them can bring extra quality, be it Cody or Kostas or one of the others who are in the starting lineup. I don’t mind.”

“It’s about them doing what they need to do for the team. Hopefully that will get the best individual performance out of them.”

Slot has 12 players on the bench against AC Milan, including Federico Chiesa, who may make his debut for Liverpool after watching the last two games from the stands.