Even those with only the most rudimentary understanding of mathematics knows seven into three simply doesn't go.
It could, though, help Liverpool turn four into four.
The quartet in question are, of course, the trophies the Reds want to snaffle as they retain interest in an unprecedented clean sweep of major honours over the next three months.
With the Carabao Cup already in the bag, Jurgen Klopp's side booked their place in the last eight of the Champions League on Tuesday despite slipping to a rare home defeat against Inter Milan.
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Already 2-0 up from the first leg, Liverpool suffered the further unusual experience by being kept scoreless for only the fourth time this season.
They came close enough, hitting the post three times and having one effort cleared off the line during the closing stages. Ultimately, though, it was an evening when the forward line fluffed their lines.
And that's something they can no longer regularly afford to do thanks to the attacking strength in depth now at Klopp's disposal, competition the Reds boss recently admitted is paramount to his team's quadruple quest.
Seven options, just three starting places each game.
"We cannot play all competitions and go far if we don’t have this depth," Klopp said after last Saturday's Premier League win over West Ham United. "You have no chance.
*RATE THE LIVERPOOL PLAYERS AGAINST INTER MILAN:
“You can do it for a year if you are lucky with injuries. We had years where Bobby, Sadio and Mo played pretty much every game.
"Obviously you need to bring in quality and fresh energy and that’s what we tried and that obviously it looks like it worked out. The boys we have now really quality in depth."
Indeed, the triumvirate of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane have started together only five times this season with only one - the victory at Burnley last month - coming since the October home game against Brighton, who the Reds travel to his weekend.
Chief reason for that, even allowing for Firmino's injury concerns, has been the form of Diogo Jota, the Premier League's second-top scorer and with 17 goals in 36 games in all competitions this term.
However, Jota hasn't scored in his last six appearances, equalling his longest such drought while at Liverpool.
Perhaps not quite recovered from the ankle injury that threatened his Wembley participation, there has been a sense of frustration in recent outings with bookings in his last three games, the second of which West Ham boss David Moyes believes deserved greater censure after a poor foul on Pablo Fornals.
Klopp would in past seasons maybe been persuaded to persevere. But the impact of January signing Luis Diaz - who replaced Jota late on against Inter and was the player thwarted by Arturo Vidal's excellent goal-line clearance - means the Reds boss has the capability to chop and change without the level falling. Out-of-form forwards won't be indulged for too long.
Key, too, has been the improvement in Sadio Mane after his successful Africa Cup of Nations, the matchwinner at the weekend and whose versatility has given Liverpool another option down the middle. The Senegalese has four goals in his last three Premier League outings.
Firmino is now back in training and could come into contention for Saturday. And with the FA Cup quarter-final at Nottingham Forest on the horizon, Divock Origi and Takumi Minamino - 14 goals in 36 appearances between them this season, only 13 of which have been as starters - will hope an opportunity is soon in the offing.
It's barely 18 months since Salah, Firmino and Mane were among the first names on the team-sheet.
That is no longer the case. And the moment so many Liverpool fans feared is instead becoming a positive - for both the present and the future.
