Yesterday, Liverpool battled against Barcelona at Wembley in the International Champions Cup and absolutely battered the Spanish champions.
Jurgen Klopp’s men defeated the Catalan giants 4-0. New signing Sadio Mane netted his first goal for the Reds to to open the scoring vs Barca.
The likes of Origi and Grujic were also on the score-sheet and former Liverpool midfielder Mascherano contributed with an own goal as well.
After announcing the team news on twitter, the official LFC account confirmed that Daniel Sturridge is out of the game due to a hip injury.
The England international is a top quality striker but his injury record has been really worrying. Last season, the former Chelsea star could only feature in 14 league games for the Reds.
In 2014-15 campaign, Sturridge only played 12 league games under the management of former Boss Brendan Rodgers.
Therefore, the fact that he has suffered another injury is by no means a shocking news for the supporters. However, the Anfield faithful are seriously disappointed yet again because they know his importance. A few reactions are provided below.
In all fairness, Liverpool must look to sign a new striker before the end of the transfer window.
@LFC water is wet
— Dom (@_DxmBillingtxn) August 6, 2016
@LFC Here we go. Glassman back at it.
— Mohammed Al-Binateej (@ATEEKSTER) August 6, 2016
@LFC The Wilshere of Anfield.
— andreseduardo (@Andresemartinzm) August 6, 2016
Noooooo please not again with these injuries ? @LFC https://t.co/zZkxdUIGEf
— Éliane Abi-Sleiman (@ElianeA_S) August 6, 2016
@LFC ffs the season hasn’t even started properly I can’t stand another season of this fraud
— linz lfc (@wizzard1001) August 6, 2016
@LFC when hasn’t he got a slight issue?
— John (@j4england) August 6, 2016
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There comes a time when common sense must over-rule our hearts! Anybody who thinks we’ll get more than 20 games per season out of Sturridge is on some completely illegal substance, be it smoked, ingested or injected . . . or a combination of all three.
If Liverpool FC go into the season with expectations of the guy playing more than half of the season they are misguided and/or delusional.
As such misguided loyalty could see us out of the top few, when the wheels fall off as they almost certainly will, we MUST plan for what is best for the club as a whole and, sadly, that wouldn’t include planning on Sturridge being our main striker this year.
Mind you, Higuaín, the guy who scored more than a goal per game for Napoli, and who said he wanted to come to LFC, has now moved on somewhere else so we’ve missed the best option we had . . . and there are very few good ones still available.
Bearing in mind we still haven’t got the new full-back or specialist defensive midfielder we are desperate for I’m not overly optimistic about us signing a new striker but, without one, a lack of goals could cost us dear this year.
The Barca result was great but we must remember that Barca aren’t as far down the pre-season route as we are so they looked more sluggish and unfit than we expected. Could we beat them 4-0 later in the season? I doubt it very much.
Let’s take the plaudits from that performance, with great performances from many players, but to suggest we can go into the season with a winger playing LB and no striker capable of playing more than 15 games per season is somewhere beyond pathetic.
We’ve still got pots of money to spend – and even more if Benteke goes – so let’s get Hector or Di Schiglia signed to fill the LB slot in the next few days and then see who is still an option for a specialist defensive role.
Can needs a partner there and NOT somebody who doesn’t fully understand the role and who feels out of place there. We need a Souness or Alonso and not somebody filling in but struggling to cope with the positional aspects of the role.
Oh, yes, just before I go . . . about ninety thousand LFC fans in Wembley for a pre-season friendly . . . not many other clubs could do that!!!!!! United, I suppose, but nobody else from Britain and I include all the London clubs in that! Reminded me of the 90,000 LFC fans who saw the team in Melbourne a couple of season ago – in a full-house of 93,000! If you don’t believe that it is clearly shown on YouTube with them giving a rendition of YNWA and it is sometimes called the best-ever rendition of the song! Check it out, it’s frightening when you consider where Melbourne is! Eat your heart out, City! Hopefully, you’ll get to fill your ground once or twice this year!!!!