Peter Crouch is poised for a Liverpool recall at Arsenal today.
But it seems certain to be just a temporary measure by Anfield boss Rafa Benitez as he shuffles his pack ahead of Tuesday’s third meeting between the teams.
“When you are playing three games in seven days against a team as good as Arsenal, and with the high tempo the games will be played at, you know you are going to have to change players,” said the Liverpool manager.
“It’s impossible to use the same players for all three games.
“We’ll need to see the players in the training sessions to see which ones are ready for the challenge. But it could be a chance for the likes of Peter Crouch.”
The fact he is only being considered for a recall because Benitez is reverting back to his favoured policy of rotation shows just how far the 27-year-old England man has fallen out of favour at Anfield.
He has been offered a new deal, with a little over a year on the contract he signed when he moved from Southampton for £7m three years ago, but he seems unlikely to sign if the current regime stays in place.
After hitting 18 goals last season, Crouch has so far managed eight this term, with the switch to a 4-2-3-1 formation limiting his opportunities.
The embarrassing defeat to FA Cup semi-finalists Barnsley in February was the last time he started under the Spaniard, and he has played almost as long for his country as his club since then, 54 minutes in the red of Liverpool compared with 45 minutes during England’s defeat to France last week.
But an impressive display today would do little for his case, with Liverpool’s first-choice team now set in stone, although if Benitez chooses to ring the changes Crouch could find himself without the sort of support Fernando Torres usually gets.
Despite boasting a five-point advantage over Everton, Liverpool cannot take fourth place for granted.
Everton face relegated Derby tomorrow and could close the gap again, but even so Benitez seems unlikely to risk Torres, with skipper Steven Gerrard a possible absentee as well.
Benitez said: “It was important for us to beat Everton last week, but we know it’s important to win every game that we play.
“I don’t think the fact we have a five-point lead over Everton can give us any leeway over team selection against Arsenal.
“Everton are playing Derby and normally you would expect them to win that.
“So it’s important we get a win at Arsenal, or at least don’t get beaten.
“Arsenal will try to go on the attack as always, and we will try and do the same job as Wednesday by looking to control them and play on the counter-attack.
“I don’t think Arsenal will approach the game any differently either. They are in the race for the title and they know they need to win.”
But it seems certain to be just a temporary measure by Anfield boss Rafa Benitez as he shuffles his pack ahead of Tuesday’s third meeting between the teams.
“When you are playing three games in seven days against a team as good as Arsenal, and with the high tempo the games will be played at, you know you are going to have to change players,” said the Liverpool manager.
“It’s impossible to use the same players for all three games.
“We’ll need to see the players in the training sessions to see which ones are ready for the challenge. But it could be a chance for the likes of Peter Crouch.”
The fact he is only being considered for a recall because Benitez is reverting back to his favoured policy of rotation shows just how far the 27-year-old England man has fallen out of favour at Anfield.
He has been offered a new deal, with a little over a year on the contract he signed when he moved from Southampton for £7m three years ago, but he seems unlikely to sign if the current regime stays in place.
After hitting 18 goals last season, Crouch has so far managed eight this term, with the switch to a 4-2-3-1 formation limiting his opportunities.
The embarrassing defeat to FA Cup semi-finalists Barnsley in February was the last time he started under the Spaniard, and he has played almost as long for his country as his club since then, 54 minutes in the red of Liverpool compared with 45 minutes during England’s defeat to France last week.
But an impressive display today would do little for his case, with Liverpool’s first-choice team now set in stone, although if Benitez chooses to ring the changes Crouch could find himself without the sort of support Fernando Torres usually gets.
Despite boasting a five-point advantage over Everton, Liverpool cannot take fourth place for granted.
Everton face relegated Derby tomorrow and could close the gap again, but even so Benitez seems unlikely to risk Torres, with skipper Steven Gerrard a possible absentee as well.
Benitez said: “It was important for us to beat Everton last week, but we know it’s important to win every game that we play.
“I don’t think the fact we have a five-point lead over Everton can give us any leeway over team selection against Arsenal.
“Everton are playing Derby and normally you would expect them to win that.
“So it’s important we get a win at Arsenal, or at least don’t get beaten.
“Arsenal will try to go on the attack as always, and we will try and do the same job as Wednesday by looking to control them and play on the counter-attack.
“I don’t think Arsenal will approach the game any differently either. They are in the race for the title and they know they need to win.”
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