IT HAD to happen eventually. Now Liverpool must go into battle without any available senior strikers.
Luis Suarez has been treading a tightrope for a few weeks knowing that one more booking would rule him out for a match.
You can’t have a go at him for the manner of his yellow card. It’s very difficult for a player in the heat of the moment to make sure they aren’t booked, especially one with a South American temperament.
At least it means Brendan Rodgers will have no qualms about starting Suarez for the crunch Europa League clash at Udinese.
The unfortunate part now is that nobody knows who on earth is going to play up front instead of him against West Ham on Sunday.
It was bad timing in some respects as, with Lucas Leiva back in the team, Liverpool’s midfield were playing higher up the pitch and the performance against Southampton was one of their best for a while in terms of domination.
It is, however, just one game, and at West Ham anyway Liverpool are likely to have to do a lot of defending given the way the Hammers played in the second half against Chelsea last weekend.
West Ham won’t exactly be knocking it through midfield, and there will be a few sore necks on Sunday. It isn’t the worst game Suarez could miss.
