Liverpool will assess Steven Gerrard and Mario Balotelli ahead of their Capital One Cup semi-final, first leg clash with Chelsea to determine whether they can figure at Anfield. The duo missed Saturdays 2-0 win at Aston Villa, with Gerrard recovering from a hamstring injury and Balotelli suffering from illness. Brendan Rodgers will check on the duo on Tuesday morning before confirming his squad for the visit of the Londoners. He said: Steven, well see how he is [on Tuesday]. Hopefully he should be OK. Mario had a chest infection last week and wasnt available at the weekend against Aston Villa. Hes come in [on Monday morning] not feeling great, not feeling well, so well check his availability. Meanwhile, Rodgers has dismissed any suggestion that Chelsea may be distracted by their Barclays Premier League form ahead of the two-legged semi-final tie. Jose Mourinhos side opened up a five-point lead at the summit with a resounding 5-0 win at Swansea City at the weekend, but the boss believes they will journey to Anfield aiming to take a step towards the seasons first piece of silverware. Its the first trophy you can win and I know theyll be very keen to put a trophy in the cabinet, especially having had nothing last year, said the Northern Irishman. Maybe if it was another team or another club it might be different, but knowing [Mourinho], some of the players and the mentality there, they will want to win the trophy. For Liverpool, going all the way in the Capital One Cup would represent the first trophy of Rodgers Anfield tenure - something he feels will be crucial to his sides long-term development. He said: Its about that taste of success that hopefully pushes them on. Weve worked really well here for the majority of the two-and-a-half years, but were here to win. Were a club that is synonymous with winning and trophies. We want to get that back again and hopefully we can do that again this season.
Posted on: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 10:30:00 +0000
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