Liverpool have been boosted, if only slightly, by the news that Raheem Sterling will be fit to participate in the tough clash against Arsenal this weekend. The extent of Daniel Sturridge’s injury is yet unknown, but it is believed that talks of Daniel Sturridge’s one month long absence are “premature”.
20-year old Raheem Sterling returned to the club after Englanda s Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania on Friday, after receiving permission to miss the nation’s friendly with Italy in Turin.
The attacker has been troubled by a toe problem in recent weeks, but he will resume training as normal this week and is also expected to start against Arsenal this week, Liverpool ECHO report.
However, Brendan Rodgers is still sweating over the fitness of striker Daniel Sturridge. The 25 year-old was reported to be out for one month after suffering from what Hodgson described as a a slight teara . The ECHO report that “initial reports that Sturridge could be missing for up to a month are premature”.
Liverpool are yet to officially rule him out of the Arsenal game at this stage, but it is highly unlikely that the player would be involved in the game as he has already suffered through serious injuries that have made him lose five months of footballing action this season.
The Reds were looking well poised for a top-4 finish at one stage but their 13 game unbeaten run in the league was brought to an end against Manchester United and the loss has left them five points adrift of the fourth spot.
Brendan Rodgers will be desperate to ensure his side finishes in the top 4, something that doesn’t look like a certain possibility right now. A loss at Arsenal and Manchester United winning against Aston Villa at home would mean the Reds will be eight points behind their arch-rivals. Worse still, they could drop down the table with Southampton and Tottenham breathing heavily down their backs as they’re both only one point behind the Merseysiders.
Rodgers already has two sure-shot absentees in the form of captain Steven Gerrard and Martin Skrtel. Gerrard was shown a straight red against Manchester United and Martin Skrtel was retrospectively banned for a stamp on David de Gea. Both the players will miss three games for the Reds.
The only good news for the club is that Lucas Leiva can be reinstated in the starting line-up, and Jon Flanagan could also be involved soon enough after he got some minutes under his belt in Steven Gerrard’s charity game on Sunday.