Key Duo Join Injury List As Liverpool Head To Turkey Without 8 Players

Liverpool have flown out to Turkey without eight first team squad players with Jordan Henderson and Philippe Coutinho joining the ever-growing list of absentees.

The Merseysiders face Besiktas in the second leg of their last 32 tie on Thursday night and their hopes of qualifying for the last 16 have been dented by a mini injury crisis.

The Reds confirmed on Liverpoolfc.com this afternoon that Henderson has been ruled out with a minor ankle injury but the vice-captain should recover in time to face Manchester City on Sunday afternoon.

Brendan Rodgers options have been further limited as Sky Sports claim he’s decided to leave Coutinho back in England in order to rest him ahead of the City game with the Brazilian in need of a breather having started the last 19 games in a row.

The duo join Steven Gerrard in missing the trip to Istanbul with the skipper still nursing a hamstring injury that’s kept him out of action in recent weeks, while Lucas Leiva is also out with a thigh injury.

Centre-back Mamadou Sakho is still struggling to overcome a hip problem so he joins John Flanagan (knee), Jose Enrique (knee) and Glen Johnson (illness) on the sidelines.

It means Rodgers is going to be without eight of his first team squad players tomorrow night which has opened the door for youngsters like Jordan Williams, Jermone Sinclair, Cameron Brannagan, Jordan Lussey and Ryan Fulton – who’ve all been added to the squad.

Rodgers lack of options in central midfield is likely to see Emre Can move forward to play alongside Joe Allen in the middle of the park. The German has been excelling as the right-sided centre-back in Liverpool’s back three recently but Kolo Toure is now likely to be recalled alongside Dejan Lovren and Martin Skrtel at the back.