Liverpool Team News: Rodgers Confirms Triple Injury Blow + Sturridge Update

Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers has confirmed a triple blow ahead of their clash with Aston Villa with Christian Benteke, Firmino and Dejan Lovren all ruled out through injury.

Benteke missed Wednesday night’s disappointing Capital One Cup clash with Carlisle after picking up a hamstring injury against Norwich last weekend and Rodgers has revealed the striker is now facing a spell on the sidelines.

The Northern Irishman refused to give any precise time-scale on the Belgian international’s return but he’s now certain to miss a reunion against former side Aston Villa tomorrow.

Firmino is also set to be sidelined over the coming weeks after suffering a back injury in midweek. The Brazilian is due to undergo another scan but Rodgers fears he has cracked a bone meaning he’ll be out for the foreseeable future.

In what is a triple injury blow for the Reds, Lovren has also been ruled out after suffering ankle ligament damage against Carlisle. The Croatian international was stretchered off in extra-time and is now facing several weeks on the treatment table.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference this morning, Rodgers told Liverpoolfc.com:

“All three will obviously not be available for the weekend,”

“Christian will probably be out for a little bit of time.

“Young Firmino landed awkwardly in the game the other night and there is another scan on his back, but he may have cracked a bone in his back. We’ll see how he’ll be over the coming weeks, but certainly he’ll be unavailable for tomorrow.

“And Dejan Lovren will be out for probably a few weeks with his ligament injury. So, unfortunately, those three are unavailable.”

“You always want a fully-fit squad to pick from, but it’s the nature of it.

“We have Jordan Henderson out as well, so you’ve got some really important players that are unavailable for us. But we’ll manage it.

“The players that are selectable really want to play and fight for the team.

“We’ll await those guys coming back. There’s no timeline on Christian and the others – we’ll see how they go over the coming weeks.”

With Jordan Henderson already on the sidelines after undergoing surgery on a broken foot, it means Rodgers will be without four first team squad players over the coming weeks.

One piece of good news is that Daniel Sturridge showed no ill-effects following his return to action against Norwich last week. The striker was rested in midweek but is set to return to the squad to face Villa tomorrow.

Rodgers continued:

“We’re nurturing him. He had a good hour or so during our last game in the league.

“We’ve just got to manage him back into the games. But it’s great to see him on the training field and the pitch and obviously he’ll be available for tomorrow.”

Liverpool head into the Villa game in desperate form having not won in any of their last six games and needed penalties to beat League Two Carlisle at Anfield on Wednesday.

The poor run of results has heaped the pressure on Rodgers’ shoulders with speculation intensifying that he could be set for the chop if the club don’t get back to winning ways quickly.