There were some serious questions floating around in the buildup to Crystal Palace’s visit to Anfield on how Brendan Rodgers would cope without the suspended Lucas Leiva and his answer seems to be bring Raheem Sterling into the squad.
Besides the youngster, Rodgers has named an unchanged side from the team that won 3-1 against Sunderland last weekend with Belgian goalkeeper Simon Mignolet retaining his place between the between the sticks, the triple center back combination of Martin Skrtel, Mamadou Sakho and Kolo Toure in front of him and Jose Enrique occupying the left flank. The Reds have been trying out a new formation over the last few matches, but the addition of Sterling into the squad suggests they may be in for another change.
Raheem joins a midfield also occupied by club Captain Steven Gerrard and Jordan Henderson — who’s expected to be the one filling in for Lucas. We’re less than a half hour away from kick-off, but early speculation has us reverting to the 4-2-3-1 formation that served us well since Rodgers arrival on Merseyside. Ahead of the midfield, it’s a front three of Daniel Sturridge, Victor Moses and Luis Suarez that will be charged with breaking down the Palace backline.
From the bench, Brendan Rodgers will be able to call on Brad Jones, Jordan Ibe, Andre Wisdom, Daniel Agger, as well as a trio of new signings in Iago Aspas, Tiago Ilori and Luis Alberto.
Join us after the match for a full reaction and other assorted goodies.
