Having played a frustrated afternoon at Newcastle last weekend, Liverpool return to Anfield in a bid to secure maximum points from West Bromwich Albion. A 2-2 draw at St.James Mark meant that Brendan Rodgers’ men went down to 3rd in the table, two points behind Arsenal and tied with Chelsea on points.
The Reds face an in-form West Brom side who are unbeaten since their 2-0 loss to Swansea back at the start of September. Buoyed by their season defining win at Old Trafford, the Baggies managed to secure points against the likes of Arsenal and Stoke and stay at 12th in English Premier League table.
As far as Liverpool’s team news is concerned Rodgers should have Lucas Leiva available. The midfielder who missed last weekend’s encounter at Newcastle due to the birth of his daughter should be back in side. Meanwhile fellow Brazilian Philippe Coutinho who has returned to training from his from shoulder injury will remain sidelined this week as Rodgers believes that he will be back in time to face Arsenal.
Speaking about Coutinho during his pre-match press conference Rodgers said:
He{Coutinho] might just be short for this weekend. You always miss quality. He has re-joined training with the group. He’s been on the field doing a lot of physical work. He has joined in with the team on a non-contact basis.
‘I think, after the weekend, he’ll be fine. He has got really good strength in his shoulder now; it’s just getting him up to speed in training and joining the group.
Iago Aspas will be the other notable absentee after the midfielder suffered a torn thigh muscle in training last Thursday which will sideline him for around 5 weeks.
Despite having a near-fully fit squad to choose from, Rodgers would be wary of the challenge posed by West Brom and should be careful about his pickings. The likes of Enrique and Agger who have missed a considerable number of games could make life difficult for Rodgers.
Here is the possible line-up that we predict Rodgers will deploy:
Mignolet, Toure, Skrtel, Sakho, Cissokho, Lucas, Johnson, Gerrard, Henderson, Suarez, Sturridge