Europa League: Utrecht v Liverpool, Injury Problems Leave Hodgson Without Left-backs
Tonight, Liverpool travel to the Netherlands to take on Utrecht, hoping to claim all six points in their opening fixtures of the group stages of the Europa League. This is the first time the Reds have visited the
Dutch side and will be unaware of what awaits them.
One player however, will be all too familiar with Utrecht, having started his career with the Dutch club. The player is none other than Dirk Kuyt, who began his career there in 1998, serving as a forward for about five years after
which he transferred to Feyenoord. As fate would have it, the Dutch international faces his first club tonight, after eight years.
Manager Roy Hodgson will hope that his side bounces back after the poor string of results they have recently produced; Liverpool lost to Manchester United and drew with Sunderland in the English Premier League and if that wasn’t
bad enough, the side were dumped out of the Carling Cup by lowly League Two side Northampton Town.
However, Hodgson is faced with a bit of a problem with regard to his defensive line up. There are no left backs available for tonight’s match; Paul Konchesky, Fabio Aurelio and Daniel Agger are all out with injuries. Konchesky
suffered a hamstring strain in the weekends 2-2 draw against Sunderland, while Aurelio still hasn’t recovered from the achilles problem that has kept him sidelined since the Europa League qualifier against Trabzonspor.
The Reds are also faced with another blow as it was revealed that captain Steven Gerrard will not accompany the team on their trip tonight. Liverpool face Blackpool on Sunday, in a Premier League fixture that the Reds must win
if they have any hopes for the title and if they wish to avoid relegation. Hodgson will be expected to rest other big players as well.
But the Liverpool boss did hint that Fernando Torres, Raul Meireles and Dirk Kuyt could get a start in the Europa League fixture. That could only mean one thing for David N’gog, the striker will not get a start tonight despite
his impressive goal scoring form this season. Whatever the squad, Liverpool will do their best to secure all three points today.
Liverpool Squad: Reina, Jones, Johnson, Kelly, Kyrgiakos, Skrtel, Carragher, Shelvey, Poulsen, Lucas, Rodriguez, Spearing, Babel, Meireles, Jovanovic, Cole, Kuyt, Eccleston, Ngog, Torres.
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