Liverpool vs Sunderland Preview, Team News, Likely Line-ups & Predicted Score

Liverpool welcome Sunderland to Anfield on Wednesday night hoping to get 2013 off to a positive start.

Manager Brendan Rodgers is expected to be back in the dug-out after being forced to miss Saturday’s win over Queens Park Rangers through illness. Several players and management suffered from the bug so the entire squad was given New Years Day off to prevent further cross-infection.

Liverpool head into the game looking to secure back-to-back wins for only the second time this season but will face an in-form Sunderland side who’ve won three of their last five Premier League games.

Martin O’Neill’s side narrowly lost to Tottenham on Boxing Day so they will look to bounce back with a positive result this evening.

Team News

Liverpool will be without defender Jose Enrique after the Spaniard picked up a hamstring injury. Stewart Downing is expected to be deployed at left back in his absence.

Midfielder Jordan Henderson and goalkeeper Brad Jones are  likely to be in contention despite feeling the effects of illness. Henderson played an hour despite being sick the night before but may revert back to the bench tonight.

Sunderland will be without defender John O’Shea for the game after he suffered a hamstring strain against Spurs. Titus Bramble is expected to replace the Republic of Ireland defender.

Full-back Danny Rose returns to the squad but captain Lee Cattermole and defender Wes Brown  remain on the sidelines with knee injuries.

Likely Line-ups

Predicted Score

Sunderland have a poor record against Liverpool, having won just 3 times in 23 attempts, and they have never won a top-flight game at Anfield. But recent encounters have been close, low-scoring affairs with Liverpool only winning 2 of the last 7, with 4 ending in draws, so the Black Cats will be hopeful of taking something from the game. But we can see the Reds edging this one. Liverpool 2-1 Sunderland

What would be your line-up and whats your score prediction? Get involved in the comments section below.