First-choice centre-back pairing
Rodgers has claimed he’s still deciding on who will start versus Stoke in central defence (via the Echo) but his team selections very much indicate that it’ll be Dejan Lovren and not Mamadou Sakho alongside Martin Skrtel at the back. For nearly all of pre-season Rodgers has gone with the Croat next to first-choice Skrtel, and we can’t see why he’d spend time honing their relationship if he were to then pick Sakho instead. If we’re right, it’ll leave many Liverpool fans who believe Sakho is actually our best centre-back dumbfounded.
