Pep Lijnders has signaled Liverpool’s intention to make a number of changes for their League Cup third round clash with Leicester City.
The Reds kick off their domestic cup campaign on Wednesday night when they face the newly-promoted Foxes at Anfield.
The meeting with Enzo Maresca’s men comes as part of three games in seven days in the Europa League, Premier League and League Cup.
And Lijnders said making the lineup changes “is a given,” although he insisted Liverpool are taking this competition seriously this season.
He said: “First, we want to win the game, so that’s our first thought.
“[We are in] a crazy schedule at the moment because we are playing in the Europa League, which means Thursday-Sunday-Wednesday.
“And we know that more than the style we have, it takes a lot from the guys, not just physically but mentally.
“So we have to make changes in this kind of season, it’s just a given. Usually in the cup, we make a lot of changes and give debuts, but we’re not just here to give debuts, we’re here to develop.
“Jota said to me before, the best thing about the season where we went for four trophies was that we stayed in the League Cup until the end, because it gave all the players regular game time.
“All the players in the squad remain hungry because they know that there is a next game in which they will play and a healthy team that wants to fight for all competitions needs it.”
One likely change for Wednesday’s game is the introduction of 17-year-old winger Ben Doak, who has impressed since moving from Celtic last summer.
On the exciting young Scot, Lijnders said: “He’s still young so a lot of things can happen.
“I had the privilege of growing up in Holland and we had this high tactical culture of Johan Cruyff and the idea of ​​having the wings outside to create, to be able to really use one-v-ones to break the opposition, they have this speed..
“Overmars, Arjen Robben, this type of player, before [Johnny] Representative, [Rob] Rensenbrink.
“So we have this culture of wingers, but you get a young winger from Scotland, only 17 years old, but with this capacity to create and get to the last line with individual skill and movement , looks great.
“The good thing with Ben is that he comes into a squad with a lot of authority and, he’s not that kind of guy, but he’s never going to shy away.
“Men tell him, you’ve always heard ‘decisions!’ from Robbo.
“He has this great low center of gravity, and that’s how he can control the ball at top speed with his left and right foot.
“But many are coming, he has to mature, he has to listen to Robbo, to Salah, to Jota, to Cody, to Luis, to all these guys who are really trying to help him.
“We as a club, I think it’s great for the young players to be in our team.”