With Mascherano , Insua and Lucas not returning to until Friday evening and Torres kuyt and Gerrard all carrying slight injuries and Agger only back and still all not sent home to us with pointless games to play . Picking the side to play a very hard imo away game v a very decent sunderland side may be very hard to pick as this stage ... but all fit i would love to see a very strong side ..our strongest and best available please . Reina Magic Skrtel Cara Aurelio Masch Lucas Kuyt Gerrard Benayoun Torres
Not on the Box. Scum are on Setanta. I'd say it will be on the likes of Sinnots though. think its going to be a very tough game, esp since a lot of our players will have been on international duty while the likes of Mandy Reid and Darren Bent had two weeks off.
http://www.sinnotts.ie/index.php?page=events&events_id=138 sinnotts Saturdays Premier League Fixtures Aston Villa v Chelsea @ 12.45pm Sunderland v Liverpool @ 3pm Man Utd v Bolton @ 3pm Please Note : All Schedules Are Subject To Change
It will be a tough game but that said, we cannot afford to slip up again. I can see Babel starting and possibly riera
This is a seriously tough weekend in the circumstances, with players coming back from half way around the world, guys getting knocks on international duty, and playing away to a team with a bit of confidence after getting an away draw with the scum. On top of that we have lost the last match and three so far out of eight, putting pressure on to deliver. And if that wasn't enough, if we don't take maximum points, the pressure is even greater on the next league game with the scum at home. Massive game.
Furious Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez on war path over injured international stars Frustrated Rafa Benitez is on collision course with four national teams, amid injury fears over his Liverpool stars. The Anfield boss received mixed news yesterday about the condition of key players Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres, Dirk Kuyt and Daniel Agger, who all had fitness concerns in international games at the weekend. Gerrard, Torres and Kuyt were all substituted early in their matches after suffering injury problems, and Benitez is angry because all three players were diagnosed with the condition earlier in the week. Torres had been forced to sit out training with Spain, but then was pitched in from the start in their World Cup qualifier against Armenia, only to be taken off after just 58 minutes with a groin injury. The same happened to Kuyt, who travelled all the way to Australia with his country Holland, to again sit out most training days with an ankle problem, only to be pitched into the friendly and then hobble out of the game. Gerrard too, has been struggling with a groin problem for a while, and he was taken off at half time during England's defeat in the Ukraine, amid fears that the injury could rule him out for two weeks. Agger played a full 90 minutes for Denmark on Saturday, but he has yet to make a senior appearance for Liverpool this season after suffering back problems, and Benitez believes he will not be fit enough to play another game so soon with his country facing Hungary on Wednesday. It left the Reds boss busily contacting the four national teams yesterday for an update, but Benitez feels that with Spain, England and Denmark now all qualified for the World Cup finals they can easily afford to release players with injury worries hanging over them. England have already sent Wayne Rooney home, but plan to keep Gerrard with them for the match against Belarus, even though the midfielder is unlikely to play. That has angered the Merseyside club, because it smacks of preferential treatment to Manchester United. Spain too, want to keep Torres even though he won't start in the midweek game against Bosnia and despite the fact that coach Vicente Del Bosque has already allowed Carles Puyol, Carlos Marchena, Xavi, Dani Guiza and Cesc Fabregas - temporarily - to all to leave his squad. The Spain national team boss spoke to his Liverpool counterpart last night, and offered reassurance that Torres will not be put into any risky situation, when he said: "I told Benitez that we will treat Torres as if he was at Liverpool. If the boy is well and wants to play, he will play against Bosnia. And if he has any problem, he will not play. It's that simple." But Benitez has angrily questioned why such important players to his team can't be sent home, given the injury concerns and the fact that the games are meaningless now for both England and Spain. Benitez also wants Denmark to also release Agger for some important conditioning work this week, rather than be risked in a match that means nothing. The Liverpool manager will also speak to Holland coach Bert van Marjwick about his decision to play Kuyt from the start of the friendly in Australia, even though the forward had been struggling so badly with an ankle problem. The Dutchman is now a major doubt for the Reds' visit to Sunderland at the weekend, with the player due back on Merseyside tonight for scans on the problem.
both Gerrard and Torres have a good chance of playing on Saturday and are being assessed at Melwood ahead of the trip to Sunderland
this would be a tough game with all our players available but with the south americans not back till friday this game will be very tough. I hope gerrard torres and kuyt are all fit, would like to see agger on the bench. Will insua start?
This is going to be a hard game don't think Rafa has a good record against Fat Head Bruce in the premier league + the fact we might be the walking wounded this could be a nail biter still think we'll win.Hope we get a result like the one below it was great to watch Bruce squrim. [YOUTUBE]JNNDKgaJk_I[/YOUTUBE]
Think it will be Aurelio or Dossenna at left back unless Aurelio is needed in the middle and Dossenna needed left midfield ...
Sunderland have signed midfielder Boudewijn Zenden until the end of the season and he could make his debut against former club Liverpool.
Brendan Zenden, the ultimate journey man footballer. He was brilliant at Boro in centre midfield, however never really cut it anywhere as a winger (Barca/Chelsea/Liverpool). Not sure where he will fit in with Cattermole, Cana, Malbarnque and Mandy Reid. I'd say he is brought in as a squad player.