Liverpool faces a potentially tricky encounter when they travel to the Goldsands Stadium on Saturday, January 25, 2014 for their fourth round FA Cup clash. The Reds are well on course of finishing among the Champions League places this season and manager Brendan Rodgers would certainly want to keep their hopes of winning silverware alive come end of the campaign with a good run in the FA Cup.
An away trip in a FA Cup tie to a lower league opposition is not an easy task for even the biggest sides and Rodgers will certainly need to take Bournemouth seriously if his side are to claim victory on Saturday.
Probable line-up for Liverpool against Bournemouth
Goalkeeper:
Brendan Rodgers will most probably be looking to take the opportunity of the clash against Bournemouth to give back-up custodian Brad Jones much-needed game time in place of regular Simon Mignolet.
Defence
The Liverpool defence has been decimated by injuries recently. The likes of Daniel Agger, Jose Enrique and Jon Flanagan are still ruled out with various injuries while Mamdou Sakho is rated as a doubt for the clash. Glen Johnson has also recently been sidelined ‘indefinitely, which means that Rodgers will not have too many options to choose from while selecting his back-four.
Martin Kelly will probably deputize for Johnson at right-back while Kolo Toure and Martin Skrtel look set to continue at central defence. Aly Cissokho will be deployed on the left full-back position.
Midfield
Rodgers shuffled his formation from a 4-5-1 to a 4-4-2 against Aston Villa last week but were completely outplayed in the first half and the Northern Irishman will probably revert back to a five-man midfield this weekend.
The Reds were dealt a big blow after Lucas was ruled out for a couple of months with a knee injury which means that Joe Allen could be handed a start in the place of the Brazilian. Steven Gerrard and Jordan Henderson will probably line-up alongside the Welshman in midfield while youngsters Luis Alberto and Jordan Ibe will be hoping for a start as well.
It will be interesting to see whether Victor Moses and Iago Aspas get their opportunity or Rodgers elects to stick with Raheem Sterling and Philippe Coutinho on the wide positions.
Striker
Liverpool have been heavily reliant on Luis Suarez so far this season and Rodgers may look to give the Uruguayan a breather on Saturday and start with Daniel Sturridge up-front.
Probable Lineup:
(4-5-1)
Jones; Cissokho, Skrtel, Toure, Kelly; Moses, Henderson, Allen, Gerrard, Aspas; Sturridge
