Liverpool finds itself in a familiar position: potentially challenging for four trophies this season, and with its number of center-backs dwindling. In Arne Slot's first campaign in charge, he is going to have to pick and choose his priorities.

Ahead of the Premier League teams joining the FA Cup and Liverpool hosting Accrington Stanley, Slot will make wholesale changes at Anfield this weekend. Beyond that, though, assuming the Reds progress and regardless of who they draw in round four, it should be a policy that remains in place.

Players like Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch and Mohamed Salah, who have played almost every minute this season aside from a couple of Carabao Cup ties, need resting. That should remain the case even if it risks Liverpool being eliminated, especially in the cases of Van Dijk and Gravenberch, where there are not really alternatives should they become injured or fatigued.

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According to the latest odds from bookmakers, Manchester City is actually the favorite to win the FA Cup at this stage. Presumably, that is because it is so unlikely to win the league or the Champions League that its focus might shift to the only domestic cup it remains in instead.

Manchester City will beat Salford City at the Etihad Stadium tomorrow and then much of the ease of its route will depend on who is is paired with. Liverpool also has a League Two opponent at home and should ease through to the draw for round four.

"For me, I know it sounds terrible. I was not too fussed if we’d have been knocked out by Southampton," Carragher told the An Echo Of Glory podcast just before Christmas when the Reds had booked their Carabao Cup semi-final spot with Spurs. "I really wasn’t. I’m terrified of all these cups piling up on us.

"And then you get to March 8. That happened last season. And it happened two or three years before, under the clock of, you know, actually I knew already February, they are going for four trophies.

"Last season we ended up with one. A couple of years ago, we ended up with two, but we ended up with two that we wanted [the least]. We got beat last day of the season in the Premier League, and we lost the Champions League final.

"So if I’m Slot, if he wins the league, he’s a Liverpool legend, he’s done. Don’t let it worry us for the next four years or whatever our work is here. You know, if he wins the Carabao Cup, he’s not going to move the dial that much.

"It’s nice to win a trophy. But for me, I wouldn’t want anything to get in the way of the league. And I’m only saying that because of the position Liverpool find themselves in."

Liverpool has reached the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup by making wholesale changes, and as Carragher says, that should be the policy in the FA Cup too. If the Reds progress without some big hitters in the side, so be it — with the carrot for those playing being that a win would get them more game time.

That stance can be reassessed later down the line. For now, though, there are bigger fish to fry for Liverpool, even if it makes it even more likely that Manchester City's season will get a lifeline.