Monday evening’s game at Anfield sees Liverpool play West Bromwich Albion in the race for European qualification.
The hosts have won just one of their last five matches, and go in to the game on the back of their 2-2 draw at Champions Manchester City last time out.
Brendon Rodgers men currently sit in eight position, though victory here would see them leap-frog Swansea City.
Daniel Sturridge may feature after recovering from a thigh injury, while Raheem Sterling is also poised to return. Philippe Coutinho could make his debut after signing from Inter Milan two weeks ago.
Top scorer Luis Suarez is favourite to open the scoring, and can widely be backed at 4.33 (10/3), whilst Bet 365 offer 7.5 (13/2) for Steven Gerrard to net first.
Liverpool are favourites for the victory at 1.4 (2/5) with Paddy Power, with West Brom as highly priced as the 10.5 (19/2) on offer from Bet Victor and the draw 5.25 (17/4) with the same firm.
The visitors, who sit one place and two points below Liverpool, are without a win in their eight games, and have lost five of their last six in the league.
Goron Popov will miss the game as he begins a three match suspension, though Youssouf Mulumbu is set to return from a knee problem. Peter Odemwingie may be selected after being disciplined for his attempt to force a move to Queens Park Rangers.
Odemwingie is 15.0 (14/1) to get the first goal of the game, with joint top scorers Romelu Lukaku and Shane Long 11.0 (10/1) and 15.0 (14/1) respectively.
Tags: SUAREZ
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February 22, 2013 5:08 pm | 
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The Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has confirmed that he has not spoken with the star striker Luis Suarez about the need to reduce his passion on the field so as to not receive many yellow cards. The striker has accumulated a lot of a look at this season partly because of his verbal duels with the referees and partly because of his diving attitude. This led to him being suspended for the match against West Ham recently. Even though Liverpool managed to win the match 3-2, the match could have been extremely different had it been for the presence of Suarez.
Suarez was also booked by the referee in the recent 3-1 defeat at the hands of Aston Villa. This extremely disappointing match meant that Liverpool were not able to capitalise on their recent run of good form, which has seen them close the gap on the teams chasing the fourth spot in the Premier league. As a result of this defeat, Liverpool now slip into the 12th position in the table. The yellow card received by Suarez was his sixth of the season and he is in danger of being suspended for two matches as a result of picking 10 yellow cards.
“He is a passionate lad. I didn’t think he deserved to be booked. I would never take that passion out of his game. That’s what makes him the player he is,” said the Liverpool manager after the match. It was an extremely embarrassing result for the Liverpool manager, who set up prior to the match that he finally felt that Liverpool will be capable of challenging for top four spot. Prior to this match, Liverpool actually enjoyed a good run of form that has seen them rise close to the top half of the table, but this defeat leaves them in the square one.
The Liverpool captain and midfielder Steven Gerrard has said that he feels that the Uruguay striker Luis Suarez is definitely the best striker he has played with at the club. The 25-year-old completed his £ 25 million move from Dutch football almost 2 years ago and he has been a revelation at Anfield. He has been able to single-handedly helped Liverpool keep afloat in the top half of the table, while he was instrumental in the Carling cup success the club enjoyed last season. This was the first trophy lifted by the club after more than six years, which made it special according to the Liverpool captain.
Even though the likes of Fernando Torres scored more goals at a considerably much higher pace, Steven Gerrard reckons that it is Suarez who has been best of the lot. The striker has developed a reputation for going down to the ground easily, but Gerrard reckons that there are very little players in the world capable of matching the talent within the Uruguay striker. Steven Gerrard also praised the ability of the Spanish midfielder Alonso, with whom he played at Liverpool. He reckons that Alonso is the best midfielder in the world for his dynamic ability.
“Absolutely, there’s no doubt. He could play in any national team in the world because he has so many great qualities. He is flexible. He can play at the English pace or he can associate with the ball very well. He is a very intelligent player, so he could play anywhere – not just any national team but any club in the world. But he has been a one-club man and that’s something I really admire,” said Alonso in praise of Steven Gerrard. Alonso left for Real Madrid in a £ 30 million deal a few seasons ago.
