Brendan Rodgers has said that his side has "big confidence" ahead of Liverpool's trip to Newcastle United in the Premier League this weekend.
The Reds were held to a goalless draw by Hull City last weekend, but head into this fixture off the back of a win in the League Cup against Swansea City.
Daniel Sturridge, Mamadou Sakho and Enrique will all be missing through injury though.
Read what else the manager talked about below:
Good afternoon! Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers will be speaking to the media shortly ahead of his side's trip to Newcastle United this weekend. His side head into the match unbeaten in their last four outings in the league.
Summer signing Mario Balotelli is yet to score in the league this season, but he inspired the team's comeback against Swansea earlier this week. He started on the bench in the Capital One Cup, but the manager will surely be considering putting him back in the starting lineup for this match.
The Reds are expected to still be without Daniel Sturridge for this match, as he continues his recovery from a calf strain sustained during training. Rodgers should provide us with an update on any other absentees this afternoon.
Here's a picture of the manager busy at work getting his squad ready for their trip to Newcastle at Melwood earlier today:
PHOTO: Brendan Rodgers oversees #LFC training at Melwood on Thursday. pic.twitter.com/fluwRtNl2w
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) October 30, 2014
If you want to read more about the matchup, our pre-match preview is now online, where you can also vote on who you think will win this weekend.
Our live coverage ahead of this match will start an hour before kickoff, and we'll also have team news, match anaylsis on Saturday afternoon.
This match will signal the start of a difficult week for Liverpool. After this they'll fly out to Spain to face Real Madrid in the Champions League, before hosting league leaders Chelsea in the league next weekend.
Like Liverpool, Newcastle have were in League Cup action during the week. Both sides booked their places in the quarter finals, where Liverpool will play Bournemouth and Newcastle will go to Tottenham.
While we wait for the manager, let's take a look at another shot from Liverpool's training session this morning. Here's Alberto Moreno showing off some impressive acrobatic skills:
PHOTO: Acrobatics from @lfc18alberto during the #LFC session earlier today. pic.twitter.com/MvhqQ50ChP
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) October 30, 2014
Newcastle boss Alan Pardew has also been speaking to the media today. He's admitted that in-form striker Papiss Cisse will be "touch and go" for this match, which will probably come as welcome news for Liverpool fans.
This fixture is typically one of the more entertaining non-derbies of the Premier League season. In the last five meeting between the two sides there's been at least one red card per match, an average of more than three goals, two draws, two wins for Liverpool and one Newcastle victory, so it's a difficult one to predict.
Right then, Rodgers is ready to go, so let's see what he has to say...
The first question to come from the reporters is about Balotelli, to which the manager jokes "not again". The Italian seems to have dominated every pre-match press conference since he joined the club.
Daniel Sturridge has suggested that the number of injuries that he gets could be down to his genes, but the manager admits he doesn't know much about that. "I'm not an expert on genetics so I can't comment."
Attention turns to this weekend's opponents. Rodgers says: "They had a very good result against Leicester and sometimes you need that when you get a result away from home, and last night [in the League Cup] they were outstanding."
On his opposite number, he adds: "I know Alan is a class manager, but I know the pressure he's been under. Great credit to the directors at Newcastle, we all know the pressures when you're not winning games. Pardew is very experienced."
After coming from a goal down in the League Cup the other night, Rodgers admits that his side feel confident ahead of this encounter: "We will go into the game with big confidence. The other night we played as well as we have done all season."
On the subject of injuries, Rodgers confirms that Sturridge, Sakho, Flannigan and Suso all remain sidelined, while a knee injury kept Enrique out of the League Cup side earlier this week. Otherwise, there are no new injury concerns for the manager.
While Sturridge remains on the sidelines, it sounds like Fabio Borini could be in line for a bigger role, as Rodgers admits that he was "outstanding" against Swansea earlier this week.
Another player who has impressed the boss this week is Lazar Markovic, as Rodgers tells reporters: "We brought young Markovic in for the longer term, we have confidence that he will become a big player for us."
Well that's all from Rodgers this week, so join us again on Saturday when we'll have coverage of this and every other Premier League match from an hour before kickoff. Until then, thanks for joining me this afternoon. Goodbye.
Written by
Sian Cowper
Sian Cowper
