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Arne Slot knew, after Liverpool lost to PSG and Newcastle United in quick succession last season, that he needed more depth. The Reds boss injected more quality into his roster over the summer, and he made use of it midweek.
As Liverpool lost 1-0 to Galatasaray, Slot made changes. Mohamed Salah was dropped to the bench — something that would have been unthinkable last season — and Alexander Isak was on the sidelines too.
While Liverpool lost, and that certainly wasn't part of the plan, it did offer an insight into how things might look this year. Slot wants to challenge on all fronts, and that might mean more rotation to keep everyone fresh.
Life without Salah, on the admittedly limited evidence of Tuesday's game in Istanbul, did not look great, however.
Liverpool was disjointed, though it should be added that the Egyptian was on the field against Crystal Palace a few days earlier, and that looked exactly the same.
Later this year, with the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) coming up, playing without its talisman will have to be something that Liverpool gets used to.
And, of course, beyond the next couple of seasons, for which he is contracted, there is also the wider question of how the Reds eventually move on from him.
One step at a time, though, and looking ahead to AFCON, which starts on December 21 this year, Salah is likely to miss home Premier League games versus Wolves and Leeds games and visits to Tottenham, Fulham and Arsenal.
That game at the Emirates could be particularly important in the context of the title race.
If Egypt goes deep into the tournament, Salah might also end up missing games with Burnley and Marseille, and a potential Carabao Cup semi-final. He would be unlikely to feature in the FA Cup third round, but that falls early in 2026 as well.
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If the bad news is that Jeremie Frimpong didn't leave much in the way of an impression against Galatasaray in Salah's place, then the good news is that there are still a couple of months to work things out.
By that point, Florian Wirtz should be used to the demands of English soccer, and Isak will be up to speed. If Frimpong or Conor Bradley can nail down the right-back spot, that might free up Dominik Szoboszlai too.
Salah leaving for a period is not news to Liverpool and it will have an idea of how to combat it. if there are more experiments before AFCON kicks off, though, it will hope they look a little better than it did at Galatasaray.
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