Arne Slot will be given a strong reminder of his recent past this evening. The Liverpool boss, though, is focused only on the future at present.

Slot returns to his native Holland for the first time in the Anfield hotseat with his current charges needing only a point to ensure they finish top of the revamped Champions League first stage. But it says much about Liverpool’s relentless progress under the Dutchman that the match is by some distance the least important of the campaign thus far.

While there will be undoubted prestige in being the first ‘winners’ of the new-look league stage, the difference in benefits between first and second – the Reds are guaranteed either having maintained their 100% record with a seventh win out of seven in beating Lille 2-1 at home last week – are negligible other than a few extra coins in the coffers through earning at least a draw.

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It means what while the rest of the Champions League licks their lips at the prospect of 18 simultaneous games with so much yet to be decided, Liverpool minds are predominantly on Saturday’s Premier League trip to in-form Bournemouth.

Slot admitted as much with his squad selection, with nine senior regulars joining the returning Joe Gomez and injured duo Diogo Jota and Curtis Jones by being left on Merseyside with a 21-man party packed with youngsters instead jetting out to Eindhoven on Tuesday teatime.

There was some sense in the decision, with both Ibrahima Konate and Alexis Mac Allister both one booking away from a suspension, a disciplinary tightrope they will potentially have to negotiate until after the quarter-finals.

And when asked if it was scary to change so many players, Slot admits to breaking one of his golden rules.

"For the past few months it has been going very well but it is so difficult to become a champion (of the Premier League)," he says. "People are watching from the outside. You need to perform well.

"Many times I mentioned at Feyenoord is that sometimes you have to roll the dice and six has to come out. It doesn’t give us any guarantees.

"I wouldn’t say I am scared. When you are in this job, tomorrow we play PSV then Bournemouth then Tottenham, then we have an FA Cup game then another midweek game.

"I am especially working on PSV and Bournemouth and this is an exception - normally we work on only the game ahead but today I am also working on Bournemouth."

Of course, tonight’s opponents PSV Eindhoven are no strangers to Slot with the Reds boss having regularly tussled with the Dutch side during his three years in charge at Feyenoord.

PSV beat Feyenoord to the Eredivisie title last season, although Slot’s side were champions the previous year, while the pair both finished in the top three behind Erik ten Hag’s Ajax in 2021/22.

There was none of the fervour that occasionally greets Liverpool on their arrival on a European trip, this their fourth Champions League trip to these parts having drawn in 2006 and then won in each of the following two years.

But there remains much riding on the encounter for the hosts, with PSV mathematically still able to finish in the top eight or drop out of the 24 altogether. A play-off berth, though, seems their most likely outcome.

Liverpool have an excellent record against Dutch opponents and are unbeaten in 17 such fixtures as they aim for a best-ever sequence of eight successive wins in the Champions League era.

And even before the extent of the Slot’s shadow squad became apparent, few would have been anticipating a goalless draw, with PSV having scored 95 goals already this season to Liverpool’s 83. The Reds have 40 in 17 away games alone.

This, then, has become an evening when the Reds' youngsters will hope to stake their claims, with midfielders Trey Nyoni, James McConnell and Tyler Morton and striker Jayden Danns the most likely to feature at some stage alongside more established players such as Caoimhin Kelleher, Conor Bradley, Jarell Quansah and Harvey Elliott.

And for Morton, it could ultimately prove something of a shop window with the 21-year-old midfielder having recently admitted he needs to be selfish over his next career move with the transfer window closing on Monday.

The Champions League has been dealt with for now. This evening the next generation will be given their opportunity to show they can have a future at Liverpool.