Liverpool face Manchester City in a tough Premier League match on Sunday, a match that could well go on to determine Liverpool’s top 4 chances and City’s title defence.
Neither Philippe Coutinho, nore Jordan Henderson travelled to Turkey in midweek for the Reds’ Europa League second leg against Besiktas, which was lost on penalties. Coutinho was rested for the game as he had started nineteen straight matches while Jordan Henderson suffered from a slight ankle injury. Coutinho will come back refreshed for the match, but Henderson will face a late fitness to determine his availability.
“It’s going to be similar to what we had the other night,” the boss said at his pre-match press conference.
“Young Phil Coutinho will be fine. But the rest will be as it was really.
“We’ll assess one or two of the boys that have been out, like Jordan Henderson. We’ll have a look at Jordan and see how he is.”
Rodgers spoke about the possible fatigue given his players travelled to Turkey and came back on Friday.
“The players that we had available were nearly all involved the other night. Of course it was always going to be difficult in terms of the preparation.
“You don’t need to be a sports scientist to work out that if you arrive back at 4.30 on Friday morning and then you have got a game early on the Sunday, physically there is going to be a cost.
“But mentally, the players are in a good state and we’ll look forward to the game.”
Rodgers also spoke about managing game-time for injury prone striker Daniel Sturridge as the England international is still getting his fitness back.
“We just have to manage Daniel,” he said. “He had given everything in the game. This is a player that is coming back from five months out injured, someone who is gaining his fitness in the games.
“We have to be really careful that he doesn’t break; Daniel’s history shows that he has got a past in terms of injuries. So we have to try to manage that the very best we can.
“There has been very little training between the games because they have to play, recover and then play again.
“He had given everything, he had no more left in his legs and we just needed to take him off to prevent him getting an injury while he was very tired.”
Meanwhile, Mamadou Sakho has also been deemed fit to start the game, but is also likely to undergo a late fitness test.
Probable Line-up (3-4-2-1): Mignolet; Can, Skrtel, Sakho; Markovic, Henderson, Allen, Moreno; Coutinho, Sterling; Sturridge
