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Rafael Benitez could gamble on wholesale changes when Liverpool
return to the Emirates Stadium tomorrow for the second of three
clashes with Arsenal in seven days.
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With Arsenal still in with a shout of the Premier League crown,
the chances of Arsene Wenger making such dramatic changes for this
league clash are less likely. But Liverpool will have looked at the
run-in that they and fifth-placed Everton have got and seen that
the Toffees must also go to the Emirates and they also have to play
Chelsea. So with a five-point lead in the race for the final
Champions League spot going into the weekend - and a far superior
goal difference - Liverpool have more breathing space than Arsenal
and therefore it is likely most of Liverpool's big guns will be
left on the sidelines. Fernando Torres, taken off in the final
minutes of Wednesday's 1-1 Champions League draw, is highly
unlikely to be risked again if only to make sure that he avoids
injury ahead of Tuesday's semi-final second leg against the Gunners
at Anfield. And there is every chance that skipper Steven Gerrard,
Sami Hyypia, Jamie Carragher, Dirk Kuyt and Ryan Babel could be
rested for this one. Benitez, who could play Peter Crouch and
fit-again Andriy Voronin up front, said: 'I will need to think
carefully about my team for the league match. Torres and Gerrard
will need to be strong for the second leg, and Kuyt ran himself to
a standstill on Wednesday. 'Some players recover in two or three
days, others need four. Maybe we will need to change some players.
'The age may be the key. Fernando can recover in two days, but Sami
could take five. We will have to wait and see. 'I am expecting to
make changes, I cannot expect them to play three times like that in
seven days, certainly with the very high tempo of the games. 'It is
impossible to play these same players three times in a week.
Impossible.' Liverpool's fringe players could well find themselves
thrown into this Emirates clash, with Alvaro Arbeloa, Steve Finnan,
John Arne Riise, Crouch, Lucas, Voronin and Jermaine Pennant all in
line for call-ups. Suspended Javier Mascherano will obviously be
out but it is debatable whether he would have played tomorrow even
if the FA had not given him an extra two-game ban for the charge
that followed the Argentinian's red card at Old Trafford.
Liverpool's priorities are also clear to Babel, who accepts he may
be rested for the match. 'The boss will have to make decisions now
on who to start and who to rest,' he said. 'It will be impossible
to play with the same eleven in three games against Arsenal. 'I
think, in this situation, rotation is maybe good. 'We flew back
from London on Wednesday night after the match, and we will go back
today. It's a hard few days, mentally difficult. 'On Thursday we
had a light training session, and then we will rest and discuss
tactics and how we will play in the league match. 'Rafa will have
already seen the first game back a couple of times to tell us what
we did good and bad. He will now tell us how we can do
better.'
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