The Reds have the opportunity to close the gap on fourth place Manchester City to four points this afternoon and ramp up the pressure on their evening time kick-off against Aston Villa.
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In terms of the team, BBC reports have confirmed that Daniel Sturridge, Mamadou Sakho and Lucas Leiva remain unavailable because of injuries, while Adam Lallana and Jon Flanagan could play some part on their return.
West Brom are still after one more win to ensure that they’ll be playing Premier League football next season, with eight points currently separating them from the bottom three, so are unlikely to lie down easily at the Hawthorns.
Here are five key questions that could be answered today…
5) Can Adam Lallana make an instant impact?
We’re still waiting to get the best out of our £25m summer signing from Southampton, whose form has undeniably been restricted by injuries so far this season. He hasn’t featured at all since the game against Manchester United at the end of March, so will surely be hoping to make a positive return against Albion today. His first Liverpool goal came against West Brom at Anfield earlier this season, so here’s hoping for a repeat performance today.
4) Will Jon Flanagan feature at last?
If the Reds persist with their return to a 4-3-3 formation then the right-back position is one that is definitely up for grabs. Neither Glen Johnson or Javier Manquillo have inspired much in the way of confidence so far this season and Flanagan could have a fairly simple route back into first-team contention. While today is probably too soon to see him feature from the start, it will be intriguing to see whether Brendan Rodgers employs him among the subs.
3) How important is Jordon Ibe to this team?
The youngster has the chance to make a big statement today. His pace and power on the flank was definitely missed against Aston Villa at Wembley last weekend, so today presents him with the perfect opportunity to show why he deserves to be a regular in Brendan Rodgers’ side. Ibe’s emergence has certainly been one of the highlights so far this season, after he started the year on loan at Derby in the Championship, and he’ll want to impress again.
2) What position will Emre Can play?
The German’s versatility has certainly been exploited this season – he’s played centre back, right back, centre midfield, right midfield… he’s been utilised in a defensive three and a defensive four and you could forgive him for not knowing which way he’s going. With Lucas out and Martin Skrtel back from suspension, today is perhaps the prime opportunity to trial him in his favoured defensive midfield role, even if it means leaving out Steven Gerrard.
1) Who’s going to play up front?
With Sturridge still out it’s most likely to be a toss up between Raheem Sterling and Philippe Coutinho, with one playing just behind the other. Arguably, it seems foolish to me to remove Coutinho from his best position when he’s been our best player so far this season. However, he’s played the false nine role well in recent weeks. With Jordon Ibe also likely to be up in support of the duo, flexibility is going to be the key, with an ever-changing front three surely the most difficult to stop.
