A confidence boosting midweek League Cup victory at the Britannia Stadium will have helped to allay Reds fans’ fears about the club’s failure to achieve maximum points against Manchester United and Norwich City in recent weeks. The fact that Luis Suarez seems to have hit scoring form will be particularly comforting.
West Brom, meanwhile, are enjoying a good run of form – recent victories over West-Midlands rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers and Aston Villa have helped to alleviate initial early-season worries – and Hodgson will hope to pull off a repeat of his victory over Liverpool at the Hawthorns last season.
However, the home side will have to make do without the injured Shane Long, but the Baggies have been relatively effective with Simon Tchoyi behind a lone striker this season, so expect the Cameroonian to step comfortably into that attacking role. Chris Brunt has also been impressive as a creative force on the right of West Brom’s four-man midfield.
Liverpool, meanwhile, are almost entirely injury-free (Suarez picked up a slight knock against Stoke on Wednesday, but he is expected to have recovered enough to start on Saturday). Steven Gerrard may find himself moved to the right of the midfield to accomodate Lucas Leiva’s return from suspension, but it still seems unlikely that Andy Carroll will be able to reclaim his starting spot.
Possible line-ups:
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