Jurgen Klopp has named a first-choice 23-man squad for the Club World Cup trip to Qatar later this month, leaving the youth team to face Aston Villa in their Carabao Cup tie.
With Liverpool set to face their opening game in Qatar on Wednesday December 18, yet facing Aston Villa in their Carabao Cup quarter-final a day earlier, the Reds had a big decision to make.
Klopp has answered exactly where their priorities lie by naming all his star players, apart from the injured Joel Matip and Fabinho, in his 23-man party to go to the Middle East.
The tournament, which Liverpool will play in as Europan champions, comes at a difficult time with fixtures piling up in December and January, but Klopp had always said that he would take the event seriously.
From Alisson and Virgil van Dijk to Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah, all of Liverpool's big stars wil lbe over in Qatar while their kids will get the chance to test thesmelves against Dean Smith's Villa with a place in the semi-final at stake.
After the squad announcement, Villa are now 2/11 favourites to win that match with Liverpool a massive 12/1 for whatever team they can put out on the night to cause a huge upset, presumably with Under-23s boss Neil Critchley in charge.
The likes of Caoimhin Kelleher, Sepp Van den Berg, Pedro Chirivella, Herbie Kane, Yasser Larouci, Billy Koumetio and Leighton Clarkson will be in line to play at Villa.
Liverpool play their first game iN Qatar on December 18 and then the third-placed play-off or final on December 21.
Liverpool squad for the Club World Cup: Alisson, Van Dijk, Wijnaldum, Lovren, Milner, Keita, Firmino, Mane, Salah, Gomez, Adrian, Henderson, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Lallana, Lonergan, Shaqiri, Brewster, Robertson, Origi, Jones, Alexander-Arnold, Elliott, Williams.
