Ibrahima Konate was not part of the Liverpool squad to face Toulouse in the Europa League on Thursday night, with his absence from the group explained.
Jurgen Klopp made eight changes to his lineup from the Merseyside derby, with Luke Chambers among those to come in for his full debut.
While Trent Alexander-Arnold, Darwin Nunez, Diogo Jota, Ryan Gravenberch and Curtis Jones all started, though, the strength of Liverpool’s bench stood out.
One absentee from a reserve list that included the likes of Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Dominik Szoboszlai, however, was Konate.
The Frenchman was surprisingly left out of the squad, with Van Dijk available at centre-back along with Jarell Quansah.
It may have led to concerns over a new fitness issue for Konate, who has already missed three games this season due to a hamstring injury – or perhaps even fallout from his near-miss in avoiding a second yellow card against Everton.
But the Liverpool Echo‘s Paul Gorst reports that the 24-year-old was simply rested, with Van Dijk and Quansah considered ample backup for starters Joel Matip and Joe Gomez.
Despite injuries to Thiago, Andy Robertson, Stefan Bajcetic, Ben Doak and Conor Bradley, the option to omit Konate entirely shows the depth enjoyed by Klopp.
With only two days to rest, recover and prepare for the visit of Nottingham Forest on Sunday, the ability to rest the No. 5 is a major positive.
Konate has only completed the full 90 minutes in four of his nine appearances so far this season, being substituted on three times and off twice.
No risks will be taken with a player whose top-heavy build and all-action style makes him more prone to injury than others.
