Liverpool fans have taken to Twitter to react after hearing that Christian Benteke might miss Crystal Palace’s trip to Anfield on Sunday.
The 30-year-old was withdrawn shortly after scoring against Arsenal on Wednesday due to an injury.
As quoted by Football London, Roy Hodgson didn’t sound too confident about the 39-cap Belgium international’s chances of making the game.
The 73-year-old said: “That will also involve checking on the knocks from the other night. Christian Benteke came off with a knock.
“I’ve really got to wait and see until tomorrow. I really am hoping that it will be better than I fear it might be, but until tomorrow I don’t know.”
Now, it’s never nice to celebrate an injured player’s absence, although Liverpool fans will be breathing a huge sigh of relief if Benteke is absent.
Crystal Palace’s No.20 has been in fine form of late, scoring four goals in his last four Premier League appearances.
Benteke now has ten Premier League goals for the season in 30 games, and is beginning to look something like his old self.
Additionally, his record against Liverpool is spectacular.
Benteke has scored seven goals in 12 games against the Reds throughout his career, while also providing one assist.
With Liverpool needing to match Leicester’s result against Tottenham on Sunday, it would be welcome news if Benteke was missing.
If he plays, and Liverpool miss out on the Champions League, it would be a truly crushing blow for Jürgen Klopp’s side.
The south Londoners don’t really have a player like Benteke, so it would be significant if he was missing.
Jean-Philippe Mateta appears to be a serious physical presence who can compete aerially, although we haven’t really seen enough of the Frenchman to know if he can replicate Benteke’s qualities.
We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.
For now, let’s see how the Liverpool fans on Twitter reacted to the early team news…
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