Liverpool Eye Redemption at Leicester
Brendan Rodgers wants Liverpool to build on their recent Barclays Premier League upturn when they travel to struggling Leicester City on Tuesday.
After a difficult start to the campaign, Liverpool finished November on a high after a run of three consecutive Barclays Premier League defeats. After defeats by Newcastle United, Chelsea and Crystal Palace Glen Johnson's late goal against Stoke City at Anfield on Saturday ensured a hard-fought 1-0 victory to end Liverpool's rocky domestic run.
The visitors to the King Power Stadium could propel themselves back into the European places with a win and Rodgers is eager to sustain their steady momentum.
"We're in a moment now where we need to get results and we need to obviously improve our style of play but we need to have the confidence in the team," he explained after the win over Stoke. "We're slowly, in the last couple of games, getting back to a confident level.
"You can't play perfect football [all the time] and for us, the moment that we're in, we've shown wonderful character this week. I was very satisfied and my overriding feeling was that I was delighted for the players because they're a wonderful group."
Captain Steven Gerrard was a substitute for the Stoke City match, which fell on the 16th anniversary of his Liverpool debut, and will be itching for a recall but Mario Balotelli will miss the Leicester City trip as he continues to struggle with a groin injury. He has not featured since the 2-1 home loss to Chelsea last month after picking up a groin problem while on international duty with Italy.
There is better news for defender Mamadou Sakho, with the France centre-back shaking off a thigh complaint to return to full training. However, Sakho will also be absent at Leicester.
"The squad will be pretty much the same [as Saturday's 1-0 win over Stoke City]," Rodgers said. "Sakho trained yesterday with the team for the first time, but won't be match-ready yet. And Mario is still not fit."
Nigel Pearson's Leicester have also endured a torrid November, collecting one point from a possible 12, with Saturday's 3-2 defeat by Queens Park Rangers sending them bottom of the table.
Last season's Championship winners have registered two points since their 5-3 win over Manchester United in September.
While Pearson took the positives from his side's creativity and attacking threat at Loftus Road, he was left to bemoan defensive mistakes and called on his side to arrest their decline in form.
"The reality is we're not winning enough games at the moment and you could look at a lot of other sides in the division at the minute who will probably say exactly the same thing," he said. "It's not about talking about it, it's about going out there and doing it. There's only ourselves that can rectify our own results.
"[Against QPR] we were very positive and created chances but still couldn't win the game. That's frustrating for us all and I feel for the players because of that."
Dean Hammond (calf) is ruled out for Leicester, with Matthew Upson still gaining match sharpness having recently returned to first-team training following an ankle problem.
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