Reds duo suffer injuries

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Reds duo suffer injuries - Yahoo! Eurosport

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Dirk Kuyt and Daniel Agger have been injured on international duty giving Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson more to worry about ahead of the Merseyside derby on Sunday.

Kuyt's injury could be the more serious as he lasted only 29 minutes of Holland's game against Sweden before leaving with what appeared to be a bad ankle injury.

Agger, making his comeback from a groin problem, lasted only 39 minutes of Denmark's game against Cyprus.

In a subsequent article, Yahoo!UK continues:

Liverpool striker Dirk Kuyt has been taken to hospital with a serious ankle injury sustained during Netherlands' Euro 2012 qualifier against Sweden.

The Dutchman had to come off just before the half-hour mark in the Group E match when he landed awkwardly after jumping for a ball with Sweden's Daniel Majstorovic.

"Dirk wanted to play on but our doctor prevented that and told me to substitute him," Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk said after his side's 4-1 win.

"He is now in a hospital but following the doctor's first opinion it could be very serious and keep him sidelined for a long time."

The Merseyside derby is a stay-away game for me. There is too much acrimony and too few chances in any local derby, much less one of the signature derbies in the Premier League. Compounding everything is both team's, shall we say "indifferent" form to start the season. I'll likely keep Coleman if he is likely to keep his place, but otherwise I'm not investing.

However, that being said, I will be interested to see how Hodgson adjusts his line-up to accomodate these new (repeat, really) injuries. The defence will presumably be the same four that started against Blackpool (and look how well that turned out!) unless Konchesky shakes off his hamstring injury. Up front, he's already missing - well, likely missing - Torres. I would expect Ngog to get the nod as a lone striker with Gerrard in support. I wouldn't want to give Gerrard too much defensive responsibility in what will be an incredibly tense encounter. Gerrard is too likely to get carried away and get carded and/or sent off if he's played in the middle of the park. I would like to see Joe Cole and Milan Jovanovic on the right and left side of the attack with Poulsen or Lucas holding and Miereles play-making from deep.

That's my ideas for Liverpool's best XI. What are yours?