Jurgen Klopp says he made so many changes for Liverpool's trip to Rangers because the Reds are in such a hectic period.
The Anfield side welcome champions Manchester City to Anfield on Sunday for what will be a fourth of 13 games in six weeks until the start of the World Cup.
The Reds boss insists that the changes weren't for the City game itself, but more the period as a whole.
Mohamed Salah has been left on the bench, while Diogo Jota is also left out as Darwin Nunez and Roberto Firmino start in attack supported by Fabio Carvalho and Harvey Elliott.
"It's not half an eye to the weekend, we have to realise we are in a very busy period," Klopp told BT Sport.
"Diogo was not planned, but we got a call from the medical department to say that he couldn't play for too long."
Klopp has made six changes to his side for the trip to Glasgow, with Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joel Matip and Luis Diaz all out injured and Thiago Alcantara and Jota joining Salah on the bench.
Joe Gomez, Ibrahima Konate, Fabinho, Harvey Elliott, Carvalho and Firmino come into the starting XI.
Salah scored from the penalty spot in last week's 2-0 win over Rangers at Anfield, but that was only his second goal in his last nine appearances for the Reds and he was substituted in the 69th minute of Sunday's 3-2 defeat at Arsenal.
He has scored only three goals from open play this season, his first since signing a lucrative new three-year deal in the summer.
Klopp indicated that Salah was suffering due to his workload after the Arsenal game, saying: “We had to defend on a high level and we tried to put Hendo (Jordan Henderson) on that side.
“Mo did unbelievably - a lot, a big big workload, he put in a real shift. That is sometimes very intense and we thought that is why we can do it with Hendo. We wanted still to win when we took the striker off.”
Pundit Gary Neville was present at the Emirates on Sunday and singled out the form of Salah this season as a real concern for Klopp and Liverpool.
“Sadio Mane [leaving] came out the blue," he said on The Overlap, in partnership with Sky Bet.
"I watched Liverpool on Sunday and at Old Trafford, and people talk about the fact that Mane’s missing but actually, [Luis] Diaz, [Diogo] Jota and [Darwin] Nunez in particular were pretty decent – they were a real threat.
“The most worrying performance for me from Liverpool is the world star, the one that’s been nearest to winning all the top awards, which is Mo Salah.
"Those runs that he used to make all the time with Mané, I didn’t see that on Sunday at all.”
Defender Konate is making his first start of the season for the Reds, and the French centre-back is certain that his side will face a tough test.
He said: "I know the stadium has a very good atmosphere but we play football for that and we have to do very good result for qualification for the next step."
