Daniel Sturridge is unlikely to feature in Liverpool's attempt to reach the League Cup final, at the expense of a Chelsea side Brendan Rodgers is insistent his players have no cause to fear.
Sturridge returned to first-team training on Sunday after almost five months out with thigh and calf injuries and has travelled to London for tonight’s semi-final second leg at Stamford Bridge. Rodgers, however, is averse to risking Sturridge after so long on the sidelines and is expected to omit the 25-year-old striker from the match-day squad, with Saturday’s Premier League game against West Ham United a more realistic target.
Manager’s decision
Liverpool’s encouraging display without Sturridge in the 1-1 first-leg draw may influence their manager’s decision.
“It’s no good having the psychological threat [of having Sturridge on the bench] if he can’t play,” Rodgers said. “For us, it’s about assessing whether the risk is worth it and, if not, he’ll hopefully be ready by the weekend. It’s important that he’s back training now and the players have done really well without him, recently in particular, so we just have to assess that and see if the risk is worth taking. If he is on the bench that means he can contribute.”
The Liverpool manager said his players are confident of reaching Wembley and believes any trepidation will come from Chelsea following their FA Cup embarrassment against Bradford City on Saturday. "We respect the opponent because they're a very good team but we've got nothing to fear," Rodgers said. "We know we can go there and win.
“Chelsea’s result at the weekend does not help us. They will have great motivation and after a game like that you want to put it right, but it will be on their mind. Having been 2-0 up and lost, they will know they can still lose Tuesday’s game whatever the score is. There will be a bit of trepidation there.”
José Mourinho will pick his first-choice lineup for an occasion he has described as "live or die" – despite a top-of-the-table match with the champions, Manchester City, on Saturday. That means players such as Diego Costa, Cesc Fabregas, John Terry, Branislav Ivanovic, Thibaut Courtois and Nemanja Matic will be restored to the starting side.
Mourinho is attempting to secure the first trophy of his second spell at Stamford Bridge, with the urgency to exorcise memories of the cup humiliation obvious. “We need to forget the Bradford game and think about the next one in a different competition,” Mourinho said. “We are one victory from the final, and it is important we reach Wembley. At the end of May we don’t go to FA Cup final. That is for sure. The FA Cup is finished for us.
“So to go there [Wembley] should mean a lot to everyone. It’s a knockout game, a second leg of a semi-final, live or die. Maybe the fact we play against a good team will push us on to a different level of concentration and motivation that, against Bradford, we couldn’t reach.”
Exasperated The Chelsea manager was furious about the capitulation to League One opposition but remains exasperated by last week’s first leg at Anfield, an occasion he considers to have been a missed opportunity.
“I was frustrated because Liverpool gave a lot of space,” he said. “They play with three defenders, the full-backs are wide, and we could have hurt them much more than we did there. Normally our midfield is full of quality, but we lost so many passes. I saw enough space to score more goals in that game. But, even so, the team had discipline, good individual commitment and the result was positive in terms of a two-legged semi-final.”
Andre Schürrle may have played his last game for Chelsea with the German expected to sit out tonight’s second leg against Liverpool as Wolfsburg continue to negotiate his prospective return to the Bundesliga.
Schürrle’s departure, a sale which, together with that of Mohamed Salah, is likely to provoke a frenzy of late transfer activity at the Premier League leaders whose interest in Fiorentina’s Juan Cuadrado and Douglas Costa at Shakhtar Donetsk is well established. Guardian Service
