Brendan Rodgers insists his young Liverpool team will only be driven to succeed if they are racially abused by Zenit St Petersburg fans. Liverpool face Zenit in the first round of their Europa League tie later this afternoon and widespread racial abuse throughout the match is unfortunately expected.
Brendan Rodgers says his only focus is the first leg of Liverpool’s tie against Zenit St Petersburg. Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho will not play as they are ineligible but Rodgers is expected to field an otherwise first choice team ahead of the second leg at Anfield.
Zenit St Petersburg boss Luciano Spalletti has singled out Luis Suarez for special attention ahead of the Europa League clash today. Spalletti insists Suarez is the biggest threat Liverpool possess and he’d be surprised not to see the striker start later on.
Brendan Rodgers says the Europa League is the club’s top priority for this season. Liverpool are chasing the top European places in the Premier League but he says the Europa League is the club’s most important priority ahead of everything else domestically or otherwise.
Liverpool will not be out of their Europa League tie against Zenit St Petersburg after the first leg, according to their boss. Brendan Rodgers says the job of the side is to stay in the tie ahead of the second leg at Anfield where they can easily beat any team in the world.
Joe Allen is planning to force his way back into the Liverpool side on a regular basis. Allen is expected to start against Zenit St Petersburg later after falling out of the current first eleven. He says Brendan Rodgers has been right to leave him out lately because his form hasn’t been good enough.
Liverpool will table a bid of around £20 million for Atletico Madrid midfielder Arda Turan. Liverpool have been linked with the winger for months and speculation will not go away. The latest reports suggest he could be Liverpool’s most expensive signing this summer.
Liverpool are expected to fully compete for Ajax midfielder Christian Eriksen according to the Dutch press. Eriksen has revealed that he will not sign the current contract offer put in front of him by the Dutch giants which means Liverpool, and several other big sides, have a chance of signing him this summer.
Liverpool are being linked with a swoop for 19-year-old Mauro Icardi of Sampdoria. The striker has an impressive ratio of eight goals from 18 appearances this season and is reportedly the subject of scouting trips from Liverpool and Premier League champions Manchester City.
image: © ekilby
Lewis Doe
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Lewis Doe is a freelance writer and editor who seeks to bring you the biggest, smallest and most interesting stories from the football world. Lewis has previously written for some of the biggest football news and opinion sites in the world including FootballFanCast and Goal.com International. Lewis is also experienced writing in the betting industry and aims to deliver his stories with up to date factual and statistical information. He hopes to sum up stories for the site and provide an angle on the issue moving forward.
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