Brendan Rodgers will be boosted by the return of Steven Gerrard for Liverpool‘s game against Swansea City.
The Liverpool captain has been out for almost a month now after limping off against Tottenham Hotspur with injury. Gerrard has been back training this week and will be available for selection against Swansea City. It will be interesting to see whether the Northern Irishman reinstates the club captain to the starting 11 or bring him off the bench. The Reds have done well in the absence of the 34 year old. It is likely that Gerrard is brought in from the bench for this game.
Meanwhile, Liverpool will be relieved that Martin Skrtel has been deemed fit to return to the team. The Slovakian collapsed in the third minute of the game after an aerial challenge with Blackburn Rovers striker Rudy Gestede in the FA Cup quarter-final. He has since been carefully monitored by the club and Brendan Rodgers said that the central defender should be fine to play.
“Martin had the injury where he had to come off against Blackburn, so all the procedures, in terms of his gradual integration into the group is fine, so he should be available,” explained the Northern Irishman.
“But we’ll monitor that again to make sure that everything is safe and secure with his wellness to play in the game, but he should be fine.”
Skrtel has been an indispensible part of the club’s resurgence recently. Because of Emre Can’s emergence and Mamadou Sakho’s good form, Skrtel hasn’t got enough credit but the player has done incredibly well at the back and it is vital that the Liverpool boss has him for the remainder of the season for a top four challenge.
Joe Allen is also fit to face his former club after he missed the FA Cup clash with Blackburn Rovers with a minor hip injury. Allen has done well since coming in for Lucas and his good form has also led to contract extension talks. The defensive midfielder will be eager to face his former side and ensure his good runs continues at his former home.
Liverpool will also be boosted with the news that long term defender absentees Jon Flanagan and Jose Enrique are close to fitness after they returned to full training this week.
“Jose Enrique has been in and out of training, so we’ll monitor him over the next couple of games,” said Rodgers. “Great news – young Jon Flanagan is back and training with the group, which is great, but again we’re just having to gradually introduce him into the training.”
Predicted Line-up (3-4-2-1): Mignolet; Can, Skrtel, Lovren; Markovic, Henderson, Allen, Moreno; Sterling, Coutinho; Sturridge