Although there were concerns that Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson would miss out on Monday’s trip to the Emirates Stadium after he was withdrawn early in the win over AFC Bournemouth on account of a pre-existing injury, it sounds like the skipper could be in line to face Arsenal after all with scans on the troublesome foot coming back all clear.
“He’s had a problem with the bottom of his foot. He hadn’t trained for part of the week, he was taking some painkillers with it. He did ever so well to even be out on the field, explained Reds boss Brendan Rodgers after the win over the Cherries. “He wanted to try it, he wanted to give it a go, but you could see he was limited in his running,” continued the Northern Irishman. “He did great for us in the period of time that he was on but it’s important that we get victories and it’s important that we have fit players on the field and unfortunately for him he was just in too much pain.”
Fearing a cracked bone in his foot, Henderson was immediately sent for scans which have come back negative, leaving the door open for the meeting with the Gunners. Despite the positive news, the 25-year old may opt to sit this one out with the club set to leave the decision of whether or not he’s fit enough to play up to him.
Should the captain feel that his long-term fitness would be impacted by participating, Rodgers will be left a bit light in his options with Lucas seemingly on the verge of heading for a season long loan at Turkish side Besiktas and Joe Allen still nursing a hamstring injury. Utility man Emre Can would be the obvious candidate to be drafted in to the starting eleven beside new-boy James Milner after the German impressed in a pair of cameo appearances in the Reds opening two fixtures — something that the Reds boss will no doubt address during his pre-match interview.
