Angry Liverpool Ambush West Brom

LIVERPOOL manager Brendan Rodgers will wait to see whether Daniel Sturridge is fit enough to be involved against West Brom, but Manchester City midfielder Fernando is back in contention for today’s Premier League trip to Aston Villa. Liverpool drew at home against Everton in their last EPL match.
  Sturridge has missed six matches with a thigh strain and while he is edging closer to full fitness, he has been left out of England’s 2016 qualifiers due to his lack of action.
  Defenders Glen Johnson and Mamadou Sakho (both thigh), Jon Flanagan (knee), midfielders Joe Allen (knee) and Emre Can (ankle) are all unavailable.

  Silvestre Varela is ruled out for West Brom as the club assess whether he needs hernia surgery.
  The Baggies are liasing with the winger’s parent club Porto to see if Varela needs to go under the knife.
  Manchester City midfielder Fernando, who made a positive immediate impact after his summer move from Porto, has missed the last six games with a groin injury.
  His return leaves playmaker Samir Nasri, who recently underwent groin surgery, as manager Manuel Pellegrini’s only major absentee.
  Aston Villa striker Libor Kozak has suffered a setback as he returns for a broken leg and is expected to be missing for a number of weeks after an operation.
  But Christian Benteke could return for Villa after his recovery from a ruptured Achilles.
  The striker has been out since April but played over an hour, and scored a penalty, in the under-21s’ 3-0 win over Bolton on Monday but captain Ron Vlaar is still sidelined with a calf injury.
  In today’s EPL fixture, veteran goalkeeper Steve Harper returns to the Hull side for their visit of Crystal Palace with Allan McGregor out for up to six weeks with a shoulder injury.
  Manager Steve Bruce must also decide whether Hatem Ben Arfa or Gaston Ramirez are ready to make their first Barclays Premier League starts since arriving on transfer deadline day, while James Chester is in line for a recall if Bruce chooses to return to a 3-5-2 formation.
  Sunderland head coach Gus Poyet will welcome defender Wes Brown back to the squad for today’s home clash with Stoke.
  Brown missed last weekend’s 0-0 Barclays Premier League draw with Swansea because of a calf problem, but has returned to training and is available once again.
  Newcastle boss Alan Pardew will assess striker Papiss Cisse’s match fitness ahead of Saturday’s Barclays Premier League trip to Swansea.