Fernando Torres rested against Steaua Bucharest
Liverpool FC striker Fernando Torres is to be rested by manager Roy Hodgson for their UEFA Europa League clash against Steaua Bucharest.
Liverpool will travel to Romania to play their 5th match of the competition. The Merseysiders are on top of Group K after having scored 8 points from 4 games, while remaining unbeaten in Europe this season. Their rivals
for the night are 2nd in the standings on 5 points, and can give their qualification chances a huge boost if they manage to beat the Reds on Thursday night.
Manager Roy Hodgson has prioritized the progress in the English Premier League and has decided to rest his ace striker for the game. Liverpool face Aston Villa FC at Anfield on Monday, in the Premier League and the manager does
not want to burn out Torres.
Known as ‘El Nino’, the former Atletico Madrid striker has featured in every Premier League match for Liverpool and has struck the net 5 times this season. With the absence of the mercurial figure, Captain Steven Gerrard, the Reds
heavily depend on their Spanish star’s services in front of goal.
Meanwhile, Jamie Carragher has been ruled out of action for at least 3 months, after he dislocated his shoulder in the weekend match against Tottenham Hotspur.
However, Danny Wilson is expected to make a rare appearance for the Reds this season; Wilson will be stepping in as centre back and partnering Sotirios Kyrgiakos in defence.
Hodgson said, "Martin Kelly and Danny Wilson will start against Steaua Bucharest and it's a great opportunity for them to stake a claim to be in the first team. Not being able to take the points we deserved against Tottenham has
kept us in a mid-table position so the next games coming up are going to be very important. Torres won't travel. I can leave maybe as many as six or seven players who I expect to start against Aston Villa out of the team.”
However, Roy was confident that his team, even without the first choice players, would be strong enough to get a positive result against Bucharest.
He added, “I've got to be careful not to risk too many of the players I want out on the field against Aston Villa. It means on paper I'm taking a weakened team, but I believe people like Joe Cole, Ryan Babel, Milan Jovanovic, Danny
Wilson, Christian Poulsen and Jonjo Shelvey are more than capable of doing a good job for Liverpool Football Club."
Liverpool are currently 10th in the Premier League after 15 matches. However, the Reds can move up a few notches if they win against Villa, given the fact that the teams from 7th to 12th are separated by a single point.
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