Liverpool boss Arne Slot has just been given ideal early Christmas present

As cup draws go, Arne Slot couldn’t have picked much better. It is a welcome early Christmas present. Liverpool will welcome Accrington Stanley to Anfield in the third round of the FA Cup next month and the fixture stands to present a rare opportunity to rotate the team.

The Reds face a wild schedule between now and then. There are nine matches – Newcastle (A), Everton (A), Girona (A), Fulham (H), Southampton (A – Carabao Cup), Tottenham (A), Leicester (H), West Ham (A) and Manchester United (H) – before Accrington rock up at Anfield.

If they beat Southampton, Liverpool will also have a Carabao Cup semi-final first leg to contend with after United and before Accrington too. That would be against either Arsenal/Crystal Palace, Newcastle/Brentford or Tottenham/Man Utd.

Clearly there won’t be much thinking about the visit of the League Two’s Accrington until early January. But given it will be sandwiched between a potential semi-final, or a mammoth showdown with United, and a tricky away trip to Nottingham Forest – the only team to beat Liverpool all season – that it is such a winnable game on paper is ideal.

The ‘Owd Reds will make to look the Reds’ lives hard, of course. It won’t be a complete walkover – it never is in the FA Cup. But John Doolan’s side are currently 19th in League Two, just five points off 24th having won four of 16 games all season.

Liverpool have superior quality across the pitch even in reserve. The match offers Slot the same sort of opportunity to switch up his team that a tie with Shrewsbury did in January 2022, the last time Liverpool won the FA Cup.

That is the only year of the last seven seasons in which Klopp was not handed a fellow Premier League team in the third round of football’s oldest cup competition. Twice he faced Everton (2017-18 and 2019-20), twice Wolves (2019-19 and 2022-23), once Aston Villa (2020-21) and once Arsenal (2023-24).

Against Shrewsbury, the German fielded a team mixed with experience and young talent to see the Merseyside outfit through. Slot might well do the same provided he is not riddled with injuries.

It seems a perfect chance for players returning from injury to get minutes into their legs, the likes of Kostas Tsimikas and Conor Bradley will be earmarked for starting spots if they are fit by then, as too will Ibrahima Konate.

The experienced Wataru Endo should anchor the midfield and Tyler Morton may get a start. It is a match in which Harvey Elliott and Federico Chiesa can work on their sharpness and one in which Darwin Nunez might fancy some confidence-boosting goals.

It might even offer the chance to hand academy midfielder Trey Nyoni, 17, at least an appearance from the substitutes’ bench. Centre-back Amara Nallo, 18, too.

Though Slot will be wary of the ignominy of losing to a struggling League Two side, Liverpool’s quality, form and confidence – provided it doesn’t take a few knocks by then – means they will be heavy favourites even with a significantly rotated eleven.

Given how little the Dutchman will be able to chop and change his defence and midfield in the next four weeks, it is an early Christmas gift he will be delighted to receive as Liverpool chase major silverware in his first season at the club.