Black Cats welcome back captain Cattermole for Reds bout

Liverpool will be aiming to pick themselves up after being knocked out of the Europe in midweek by visiting a Sunderland side four points behind them in the Premier League.

Having been held by Braga to a 0-0 draw on Thursday in the Europa League, the Reds must now shake off elimination from their last hope of silverware this season by facing a side they will be battling against for a European place next season.

“We have to have a go for it,” Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish declared. “We’re just going to have to brush ourselves down after Thursday night and then go to Sunderland to do the best we can to get a result for everyone.”

“The next game is the most important and we will give it our best to get as many points out of it as we can.”

Both sides have eight games left to play after this fixture, with both teams finding themselves in a great position to claim a possible 5th in the league; the minimum required to qualify for continental football as either Stoke or Bolton will likely secure a European place via an FA Cup Final appearance.

Sunderland welcome back a crucial player in their run-in; captain Lee Cattermole will feature in the match after missing the last three months of football with a back injury.

Steve Bruce will also be glad to see loanees Danny Welbeck and Nedum Onuoha shaking off injuries, alongside fit-again creative midfielder Bolo Zenden. Frazier Campbell is still short of fitness, whilst Michael Turner is still missing with a knee injury.

Liverpool fans will travel to the North-East knowing influential captain Steven Gerrard will still not feature for them; the England midfielder is still not ready to return to action after having surgery on his groin a month ago.

Reds defender Daniel Agger is more than likely to be named amongst the substitutes, as Liverpool look set to name a similar side to the one that lined up against Braga, albeit with Suarez now able to feature.

In this fixture last season, Sunderland were victorious due to the bizarre ‘beach ball goal’ from Darren Bent, which secured a 1-0 win. They will be hoping for a similar stroke of luck, as their current form of one draw and four losses from the last five league matches is not how Bruce would like to end the season.

Form
All Competitions:

Sunderland: LLLLD (5 goals for, 11 against)
Liverpool: WLWLD (5 goals for, 5 against)

Premier League:

Sunderland: LLLLD (5 goals for, 11 against)
Liverpool: WWDLW (8 goals for, 5 against)

Premier League 09/10:

Sunderland 1-0 Liverpool
Liverpool 3-0 Sunderland

Premier League 10/11:
Liverpool 2-2 Sunderland