Text Link Ads

Advertise With Us

Monday, August 23, 2010

Torres could start versus Manchester City

Roy Hodgson is pondering whether to give Fernando Torres his first start of the season at Eastlands tonight.

Fernando Torres Liverpool's No.9 gave an encouraging performance during his 45-minute outing in Thursday's 1-0 win over Trabzonspor at Anfield, and the boss admits he was impressed by his fitness.

   "I thought Fernando looked very good against Trabzonspor and he will be all the better for the 45 minutes.

"He almost scored with his first touch of the ball and we are really pleased that Fernando is back. We know what he can produce and he didn't look like he was short of fitness.

"He showed he is back to his best and his energy and enthusiasm were vital for us. It did make a difference but when you have players of his class it does make a difference.

"We know what we've got in Fernando and it's really nice to see him back. It's important now we manage his fitness because it's quite early for him to be playing now.

"We have got until Monday until we play again so those days will do him good.

"Luckily we were able to rest some important players against Trabzonspor so we will have a lot of them coming back in on Monday night. It was a bit of a gamble in some ways but we won the game.

"They have had a longer rest and that is advantageous to us. We will have on paper at least a stronger team than what we had out on Thursday." the boss told Liverpoolfc.tv.

Hodgson will make changes after rotating his resources in last Thursday's 1-0 Europa League victory against Trabzonspor at Anfield.

Martin Skrtel, Glen Johnson, Steven Gerrard and Dirk Kuyt are all expected to start having been rested in midweek, while Liverpool are hopeful Javier Mascherano will recover from a calf injury.

Hodgson, though, will make a late decision on Daniel Agger, who suffered concussion in last week's 1-1 home draw with Arsenal, and is contemplating a first start of the season for Fernando Torres, the Spaniard having come through 45 minutes against Trabzonspor.

Definitely absent will be Joe Cole, the midfielder beginning a three-match suspension following his red card against Arsenal eight days ago.

Christian Poulsen made his debut for Liverpool last week following his arrival from Juventus, and Hodgson believes the Denmark midfielder is capable of appearing this evening.

Source: LiverpoolFC.tv, Daily Post UK

Stay tune for more news and follow me on Twitter.

Related Posts:

  • Video Highlights: Liverpool 1-2 ArsenalRobin Van Persie's injury-time goal meant Liverpool suffered a harsh 2-1 defeat to Arsenal at Anfield on Saturday afternoon. Dirk Kuyt missed an early penalty for the Reds, but the hosts took the lead on 23 minutes when Laur… Read More
  • Video: Kenny Dalglish’s pre-Arsenal press conferenceKenny Dalglish has confirmed Liverpool are waiting to discover the extent of the injury Steven Gerrard picked up on international duty – but the boss expects to be without Daniel Agger for a 'few weeks'. Gerrard returned to … Read More
  • Match Preview: Manchester United v Liverpool Team news Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed that Tom Cleverley will be involved in some capacity this weekend. The midfielder has been sidelined with an ankle injury since October, but he is expected t… Read More
  • Liverpool captain insist top four finish still possibleLiverpool captain Steven Gerrard has admitted they cannot afford to drop any more points if they want to keep alive their slim hopes of finishing in the top four. Saturday's defeat to Arsenal has left the Reds trailing the G… Read More
  • Video Highlights: Manchester United 2-1 Liverpool * By pressing play on the video, you’ve agreed with the English FA rules and regulations on its broadcasting. This video is googled and for personal viewing only. Red's Fury™ does not host or upload this material and is no… Read More

0 comments:

Advertise With Us

Text Link Ads