Darwin Nunez and Thiago Alcantara both were not fit for Liverpool for the Saturday lunchtime kick-off at Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.
Striker Nunez was a doubt after picking up a hamstring issue in the midweek win over West Ham with Spanish midfielder Thiago also missing out.
Curtis Jones comes in for the Reds, while Jordan Henderson and Trent Alexander-Arnold dropped down to the bench.
“No [it’s not precautionary], I wish I could do that,” boss Jurgen Klopp explained ahead of kick-off at the City Ground.
“For Darwin the game comes too early, he still feels the intensity of the game muscle-wise so there was no chance he could play today. Maybe he could play tomorrow or on Monday but not today.
“And Thiago got a bad ear infection overnight. The decision was made this morning at 5.15. That’s how it is sometimes and that’s the reason for that.”
Forest made two changes to their starting XI, with Taiwo Awoniyi and Cheikhou Kouyate coming in for Brennan Johnson and Orel Mangala.
