The post-Fernando Torres era begins for Liverpool as they prepare for the visit of Stoke on Wednesday.
Suarez could lead attack with Carroll not fit; Shawcross suspended for Stoke
The post-Fernando Torres era begins for Liverpool as they prepare for the visit of Stoke on Wednesday at Anfield.
In what has been a dramatic few days to say the very least on Merseyside, a new era has begun following Monday's gripping transfer deadline day that saw Kop idol Torres move to Chelsea in a £50million deal.
Newcastle's Andy Carroll arrived in an eye-watering £35million transfer to the Reds to replace the Spaniard, and manager Kenny Dalglish stated his intention to finally give Liverpool a front two again by bringing in £22.5million Luis Suarez from Ajax.
Carroll will not face the Potters as he continues his recovery from a hamstring injury, but Suarez is available to take Torres' place as the spearhead of the attack.
Reputation
The Uruguayan was prolific in the Eredivisie, scoring 81 goals in 110 matches for the Amsterdam club, but he will be eager to emulate the likes of Ruud van Nistelrooy rather than Middlesbrough flop Alfonso Alves in coming from the Netherlands with a reputation for goals.
Suarez has not played a competitive match since December following his biting incident on the shoulder of PSV's Otman Bakkal in the Dutch league, leading to a seven-game ban.
Dalglish could be tempted to leave the 24-year-old on the bench due to a lack of matches, but with Carroll out, it seems likely that he will thrust the World Cup semi-finalist straight into the action.
Unusually for Stoke it was a quiet deadline day compared to their usual activity at the 11th hour, seeing misfits Tuncay Sanli move to Wolfsburg and Eidur Gudjohnsen depart to Fulham.
They did however manage to keep the services of Ricardo Fuller, whose move to Sunderland never materialised despite much interest from the Black Cats in replacing Darren Bent on Weirside.
Gudjohnsen left the Britannia Stadium with a parting shot directed at Stoke boss Tony Pulis, stating that his team's approach did not suit his game.
However, these have been the tactics that have kept the club in the Premier League now since 2008, and once again they look highly unlikely to be in for the drop by the end of the season as they occupy a top ten position.
They will most likely employ the same tactics at Anfield and try to nullify the Reds' resurgence under Dalglish, with the home side on the back of two wins in a row.
The likes of John Carew and Kenywne Jones are also bound to give Liverpool's fragile defence a problem or two with their aerial threat, and the out-of-form Martin Skrtel could be in for a tough time against the Norwegian.
However, despite winning 2-0 against Liverpool in November at the Britannia when Roy Hodgson was in charge at the Reds, Stoke have not done a double over them since the 1956/7 season and collected just two points from their last 26 visits.
Team news
Dalglish has no further injury worries ahead of the match so is likely to start with same side that beat Fulham in the last week of January - with the obvious exception of Torres.
David Ngog or Dirk Kuyt could be in line to start up front should the Scot decide not to throw Suarez in at the deep end due to Carroll's absence.
A huge boost for the Reds is that vice-captain Jamie Carragher could have a place at least on the bench after recovering from the dislocated shoulder suffered against Tottenham in November.
Carragher's eventual return will come as a huge relief to Dalglish, where despite the partnership of Daniel Agger and Skrtel keeping two clean sheets in a row, they have looked shaky at times.
Stoke remain without Danny Higginbotham due to a hamstring problem, but have no further worries ahead of the match.
They will still be without reported Reds target Ryan Shawcross, however, who serves the last instalment of his two-match ban after his sending-off against Fulham.
Possible starting XIs
Liverpool: Reina, Kelly, Skrtel, Agger, Johnson, Poulsen, Gerrard, Kuyt, Rodriguez, Meireles, Suarez.
Stoke: Begovic, Wilkinson, Huth, Collins, Faye, Delap, Wilson, Etherington, Whitehead, Carew, Jones.
