Liverpool boss Arne Slot aims dig at new Champions League format and insists he’s ‘100 per cent sure it doesn’t matter if you end up first or second’ – after leaving 12 first-team stars at home for final group game

Arne Slot says Liverpool’s result on Wednesday does not matter and finishing first in the new-look Champions League means nothing, after he left 12 first-team stars in England.

None of Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Alisson, Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch, Luis Diaz, Dominik Szoboszlai and Ibrahima Konate flew to Eindhoven on Tuesday – with unfit trio Curtis Jones, Diogo Jota and Joe Gomez also absent.

Liverpool need just a point to top the league phase and a win would see them complete a 100 per cent sweep of victories. 

But Slot said: ‘It has taken me a while to understand this new format but I’m now 100 per cent sure it doesn’t matter if you end up first or second.

‘Because we are guaranteed to play the team that is 15th, 16th, 17th or 18th, and then it’s down to the draw. 

‘We can’t drop to third. It has no impact on the league table but we will be trying to win. A wise man once said to me he’s never seen anything good come from losing a game.

The Dutch manager has left a dozen first team players at home, including (L-R) Dominik Szoboszlai, Mohamed Salah, Ryan Gravenberch, Luis Diaz and Trent Alexander-Arnold

The Reds take on Dutch champions PSV in their final League Phase match on Wednesday night

‘My squad is a choice for the long-term. The (fringe players) do not need to prove themselves, we know what their quality is, but we are playing many, many games and the ones we left behind could have played but we need to think long-term. Help them get their freshness back.’

Slot spoke last week about how his father was his biggest critic but Arend will not be present at the Philips Stadion. The Liverpool boss said: ‘My father will not be here, he says he can watch much better from the television and sees many more things.

‘He is from Bergentheim, my village. What I don’t miss in the Netherlands is the amount of traffic that there is here! I don’t think he needs to drive two and a half hours or longer to be here. He will be watching from the couch at home.’

Cody Gakpo’s family will be present, though. He was offered the chance to not travel but decided against it as he wanted to play against his former club PSV, who he joined aged seven. The Dutch forward says he will not celebrate if he scores.

Predicted Liverpool XI: Kelleher; Bradley, Quansah, Endo, Tsimikas; Morton, McConnell, Elliott; Chiesa, Nunez, Gakpo.