Liverpool have no major injury worries going into Saturday’s encounter with Adam Lallana remaining the only key absentee from the squad.
Jurgen Klopp’s Reds are on the march at the moment and were briefly haulted in their tracks when they were held to a frustrating draw against Southampton last week. Hence, there is no doubt his side will come out firing from all cylinders when they take the field against Sunderland on Saturday.
The Black Cats’ recent form, though, should be enough incentive for Liverpool to exercise caution, especially keeping in mind how they were held to a 2-2 draw 9 months ago against Sam Allardyce’s side at Anfield despite a dominant performance.
There are no added injury worries for Liverpool going into this tie with Adam Lallana remaining the only key absentee. The England international is yet to recover from his groin injury and is expected to return to the first team fold in another two weeks time. Joe Gomez played out his first ninety minutes in over 12 months after making a recovery from the Achilles injury he suffered during the summer.
The defender has endured a torrid year since suffering an ACL injury last year just days after Klopp’s arrival at the club. He was afforded yet another cruel set-back with an Achilles injury in July just when he was set for a return to first-team action.
The big debate however is surrounding the participation of England international Daniel Sturridge. The striker is yet to score a Premier League goal this term and that is largely down to his limited game time. His participation with the first team has been restricted to the cup ties where the 24-year-old has suitably delivered the goods.
While performances in recent weeks have certainly staked a strong claim for Sturridge to get into the starting XI on Saturday, a midweek League Cup tie against Leeds United may be reason enough for Klopp to once again sideline the striker in favour of an appearance against the Championship side. His lack of playing time off-late has led to the likes of West Ham, Stoke City and Southampton expressing their interest in recent weeks to potentially sign the striker in January but there is little chance the Reds boss, who is well aware of Sturridge’s quality, will see through such a move.
