After being subbed off early in the second half during the 2-2 draw with Leicester City with a suspected muscle injury, it was always going to be bad news the next time we heard about Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana.
That, of course, is exactly the case with the 26-year old ruled out for the next four weeks after the club confirmed that the former Southampton man has a thigh problem. Lallana, who was just starting to re-discover the type of form that convinced the Reds to splash out big money for him in the summer, is now expected to miss both legs of the League Cup semi-final clash with Chelsea, the FA Cup fourth round clash with Bolton, as well as Premier League meetings with Sunderland and Aston Villa.
“More or less [a month out], it might be a bit shorter than that,” said Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers when asked about the midfielder’s condition prior to their FA Cup third round win over AFC Wimbledon last night. “It’s a slight strain that he has. There’s no real timeline on it yet, but hopefully it won’t be as long as that.”
Although he’d likely have been handed a rest in last night’s narrow win over the League Two anyway, the Anfield outfit struggled to consistently create anything of real note without the clever runs of the 26-year old and Raheem Sterling up top. The blow could very well be softened somewhat should Daniel Sturridge, who is expected to finally return from a string of muscle injuries of his own later this month, hit the ground running — though with the striker playing his last match at the end of August, that isn’t all too likely at all.
