Liverpool’s victory against Southampton on Wednesday means it will still be competing in four competitions in the new year.

In a simplistic sense that is obviously a positive and will only increase talk of a possible quadruple the further Liverpool progresses in the various competitions. The lead at the top of the Premier League has been cut to two points for now (with a game in hand) but there’s still real belief that a 20th top-flight title could be on the horizon.

The Reds also sit first in the Champions League table, face a relatively kind FA Cup third-round draw in January and are into the last four of the Carabao Cup.

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“We have to defend the trophy as the club won it last season,” was Arne Slot’s post-match verdict at St Mary’s. “I was not involved but the players were. We want to compete for every trophy.”

Understandably, the Dutchman is desperate to collect his first piece of silverware at Anfield, but is going deep in four competitions necessarily a good thing? Slot himself even acknowledged the challenge that could pose in 2025.

“It is normal for Liverpool to be fighting for every trophy and be for a long time in every cup, to go all the way,” he said. “This happened last season when this club won this competition, so I'm not surprised that with the quality we have.

“We are competing at this moment for these three trophies, and a fourth one is starting in January, but it is a challenge because we have a lot of competition, great competition in other teams as well, and also in the League Cup, if you look at the other teams that are still in, it's not going to be an easy run to the final for any team.”

In the short-term, Liverpool’s fixture schedule is eye-watering. The only downside of the progression through to the Carabao Cup semis means there is now a midweek match in six of the next seven weeks - the exception being a seven-day gap between the trip to West Ham United on 29 December and the visit of Manchester United on 5 January. That run comes on the back of midweek matches in each of the last four weeks.

Therefore, it’s understandable that Slot used the Southampton match to freshen his squad up and give some players a night off, and finding ways to rest and rotate his team over the upcoming seven-week period will be pivotal to Liverpool’s long-term chances of success.