Daniel Sturridge comes back, Christian Benteke pisses off.
Liverpool’s good news is about to be upset (sure what else would happen?) with concerns that their £32.5m signing could be facing a spell on the sidelines.
The Belgian striker picked up a hamstring injury against Norwich at the weekend and the club are worrying that it is more serious than first feared.
Benteke, who has bagged two league goals for the ‘Pool since joining in the summer, will undergo a scan today (Tuesday) to determine the full extent of the injury which has ruled him out of the midweek League Cup clash with Carlisle.
First team coach, Gary McAllister, stood in for Brendan Rodgers for the pre-match press conference and confirmed that Benteke won’t play on Wednesday. And that they will investigate how long he will be out for after the scan.
“Christian is going to have an MRI scan today. He has a problem with his hamstring,” McAllister said. “He’s not going to be ready for tomorrow.”
The big man is also a doubt for the return of his old club, Aston Villa, to Anfield on Saturday but Rodgers and co will be hoping that it isn’t any more serious.
Rodgers’ side have a Europa League clash with FC Sion at home the following Thursday before a trip across the city to take on rivals Everton that they will want their full arsenal for.
They do have a not-so-ready-made replacement however in Danny Ings.
“Danny Ings came on [against Norwich] and it was really refreshing to see his performance,” said McAllister.
“He has been working his socks off on the training ground and it is not by a fluke that he scored. It is because of his hard work.”
But the side still drew, there are still murmurs of discontent and McAllister knows that results need to improve.
“The fans need something,” he said. “Players need to get the fans going by playing attractive football and scoring goals.”
That will be a lot tougher if there’s bad news reported back from Benteke’s scan.
