Liverpool will return to action in April after a number of their players link up with their international sides for the March break
Liverpool have a bit of a break before they return to action, with international football the main focus for the time being. The Reds will hope their players escape unscathed but they might be disappointed when it comes to any hope for a rest.
Arne Slot and his players won't be back in club action until Easter weekend, when they take on Manchester City in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. Just four days later, they face Paris Saint-Germain and can take revenge after last season's Champions League elimination at the hands of Luis Enrique's side.
As we approach the sharp end of the season, managers can be concerned about player burnout and keeping their squad fresh. This can manifest itself in different ways for different clubs, especially with an international break to contend with.
Slot has made his own feelings clear on the matter, while PSG's Ligue 1 plans provide a separate twist heading into the European quarter-finals. Here are our latest headlines from around Anfield.
Slot braced for Szoboszlai disappointment
Heading into the international break, Arne Slot expressed some hope that his Liverpool players wouldn't rack up too many minutes for their countries.
"I think the players need a break more than the manager and unfortunately they have to keep on playing," Slot told Match of the Day after Saturday's defeat at Brighton. "Let's hope that their national team coaches do understand that at Liverpool a lot of players have played a lot of minutes, like at other clubs but I think other clubs perhaps could have rotated more than I could have this season."
He added: "So, let's hope that we've got national team coaches that will not play them 180 minutes over two games." However, according to reports in Hungary, Dominik Szoboszlai is unlikely to be rested by Magyars manager Marco Rossi just because it's what Slot wants.
Hungary don't have competitive matches during the March break, having lost to Ireland in November and missed out on a World Cup play-off spot. Instead, they have a pair of friendlies against Slovenia and Greece.
Lens issue statement over PSG drama
Paris Saint-Germain's Ligue 1 rivals Lens have issued a strongly-worded statement in response to the reigning champions' request to move their league clash. PSG had been keen to reschedule the encounter to give them a better chance of flying the flag for France against Liverpool in the Champions League.
"It does indeed appear to us that a troubling sentiment is taking hold: that of a French championship gradually relegated to the status of an adjustment variable at the whim of the European imperatives of some," Lens said. "A singular conception of sporting equity, the equivalent of which is hard to find in other major continental competitions.
"Changing the date of this match today would mean, for Racing Club de Lens, being deprived of competition for 15 days and then chaining matches every three days—a rhythm that corresponds neither to the one defined at the start of the championship, nor to the resources of a club that could absorb this type of new constraint without consequence."
Lens and PSG are due to meet on April 11, in between the two legs of Les Parisiens' quarter-final against Liverpool. PSG, who currently sit one point clear of Lens in the Ligue 1 table with a game in hand, told BBC Sport this type of schedule change has precedent and "in no way calls the league into question".