Jurgen Klopp will likely have let out a large sigh of relief on Friday night after Mohamed Salah came through Egypt's final fixture of the year unscathed.
The Reds' superstar played his part in a surprise 2-1 victory over World Cup hopefuls Belgium on Friday night by supplying an assist for Mahmoud Trezeguet before being replaced with 88 minutes on the clock.
Salah is not someone who Klopp regularly has to sweat over with regards to his fitness, but the fact Liverpool's No.11 came through the exhibition in Kuwait without any problems will have been hugely welcome for a manager who has never been able to truly relax this season on the injury front at Anfield.
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The friendly is Egypt's last fixture now until March, meaning Klopp will not have to fret about Salah being over-exerted on international duty in the kind of way he was at the start of the year when the Africa Cup of Nations got underway in Cameroon.
As the talisman of the African nation, Salah is understandably asked to play pretty much every minute for the Pharaohs and that was very much the case at AFCON '22 when he turned out for a whopping 750 minutes in total between January 11 and February 3 as his side won every knockout game on penalties before losing to Senegal in the final on spot-kicks.
To put that into context, that's more than half of the total minutes Salah has played so far this season in the Premier League, where he has featured in all 14 fixtures to date between August 6 and November 12.
It was surely no coincidence that Salah registered just eight of his 31 goals for Liverpool last term after he had returned from Cameroon. The 'Egyptian King' is not known for missing games through injury and shares the same kind of robust quality that Luis Suarez was famed for during his own time at Anfield, but that eye-watering output at AFCON surely dimmed his light upon his return to Merseyside.
Egypt's failure to qualify for the World Cup - when they were beaten by Sadio Mane's Senegal on penalties in late March - at least provides him the chance to rest up ahead of a vitally important second half of the campaign, even if the absence of such a gifted footballer makes the Qatar World Cup a lesser experience for those tuning in.
The chance for Salah to now get some rare down-time, away from the pressure of having to deliver for both club and country, should enable him to recharge and shake off any niggling issues that may be troubling him before going again out in Dubai next month ahead of the domestic calendar's return.
With 10 of his 14 goals having come since early October, Salah will have lamented the break in the play, but a fully fit and refreshed No.11 will be imperative towards a push for the top four after Christmas.
And if the Reds boss assesses the lay of the land in greater detail, he will also be quietly enthused by the lack of participation in Qatar from inside his squad. Just seven Liverpool players are at the World Cup, which is the lowest since 2006 and only three of those are expected to feature prominently, with one of them being goalkeeper Alisson Becker.
Virgil van Dijk, as captain of Netherlands, will be one of the main protagonists for Oranje and having taken the decision to stay at home for last summer's Euros as he got himself back to fitness after a career-threatening knee injury, there will be few of a Reds' faith who will begrudge the Dutchman his first major tournament.
Darwin Nunez is expected to partner Suarez up top for Uruguay in what will surely be the ex-Liverpool forward's final World Cup performance, but the rest of the Reds' representation may not be overly relied upon by their national coaches.
Trent Alexander-Arnold has always been the rubik's cube that Gareth Southgate doesn't want to solve, while Jordan Henderson, at the age of 32, is no longer first choice in the Three Lions' midfield.
Fabinho, meanwhile, has featured for just 31 minutes of the last four Brazil squads he has been named in, dating back to June with head coach Tite often preferring the likes of Manchester United pair Casemiro and Fred in the centre of the pitch.
Ibrahima Konate's situation is intriguing, given the centre-back only earned his first call-up for France in May. Les Bleus are blessed with a strong group of defenders and while Raphael Varane may not be 100% fit, Didier Deschamps also has the likes of Jules Kounde, William Saliba and Dayot Upemacano to choose from. Given Konate has played just two Premier League games this term, it remains to be seen if Deschamps will use the Reds man as back-up in Qatar.
Such a set of circumstances may lead to decreased interest from Liverpool supporters hoping to catch a glimpse of their players in action in Qatar but the relatively small contributions from Anfield's leading lights at the World Cup could yet have some long-term benefits for Klopp.
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