Liverpool travel to Stoke on Sunday still seeking a first league win at the Britannia Stadium.

Although the Merseyside club have twice run out winners in Capital One Cup ties at the ground, famously recording an 8-0 success in November 2000, they have failed to win on five top-flight visits since Stoke were promoted to the Premier League in 2008.

Liverpool have, in fact, been beaten in three successive league games at Stoke, but will still start as favourites this weekend given their impressive season to date.

Brendan Rodgers’ men sit fourth in the table, six points behind leaders Arsenal, and boast the league’s most prolific scorer in Luis Suarez.

The Uruguayan forward has 20 goals from 15 starts – one more than the entire Stoke team have managed in 20 outings to date.

Liverpool could also welcome back Daniel Sturridge this weekend, the England international having returned to training following a near two-month lay-off with an ankle injury.

Despite the obvious threat posed by Liverpool – and Suarez, in particular – Stoke’s Jonathan Walters believes his side can prevail on Sunday.

The Ireland international takes confidence from a 3-1 victory in last season’s corresponding fixture, in which Stoke responded to an early Steven Gerrard penalty by roaring to victory with arguably their finest display of the campaign.

Walters, who scored twice in that game, told Stoke’s official website: “In terms of what we have produced in the Premier League, that was arguably as good a team performance as we have put in, and we will need something similar on Sunday if we are to get the result that we all want.

“We have beaten them before, though, and this season we have been very strong at home, especially against the big sides, so we can take a lot of confidence from that into this particular game and hopefully come away from it with the points.”

Walters will not have such fond memories of the last encounter between the two teams, on the opening day of this season.

The former Ipswich Town man had a late penalty saved by Simon Mignolet at Anfield, meaning Liverpool were able to claim a 1-0 victory thanks to Sturridge’s first-half goal.

Liverpool will be without Daniel Agger (calf), Jose Enrique (knee) and Jon Flanagan (hamstring) this weekend, but are set to welcome back Mamadou Sakho (hamstring).

Robert Huth (knee), Asmir Begovic (broken finger) and Andy Wilkinson (foot) remain sidelined for Stoke, who are set to make a late decision on whether Thomas Sorensen, the recent victim of an Achilles injury, or Jack Butland starts in goal.

The Reds boss maintains the forward will not be rushed back and believes the 24-year-old will play an important part in the club’s bid to secure Champions League football

Brendan Rodgers has revealed Daniel Sturridge could be fit for Liverpool’s Premier League fixture against Stoke City on Sunday.

The 24-year-old has not featured since the 3-3 draw against Everton on November 23, after suffering an ankle injury in training.

The forward has scored 11 goals in 14 appearances for the club this season as Liverpool sit fourth in the Premier League, six points behind leaders Arsenal.

When asked if Sturridge would be included for his side’s trip to the Britannia Stadium, Rodgers replied: “We’ll see over the next 24 hours.

“He has made a terrific impact since he came in here, he has been outstanding. We’re working hard with him and his talent to try to really allow that to flourish.

“Over the last four to five weeks it has obviously been difficult for us with injuries and the fitness of the squad.

“But just seeing him on the training field in the last couple of days has been really good – someone of that stature and quality out there. To have that back in your group again gives you great firepower.”

Rodgers maintains Sturridge will not be hurried back from his injury and predicts the striker to play a major part in his side’s bid to secure Champions League football.

“Daniel missed all of our pre-season, came back in having only trained 10 days or so, then started off the season and was outstanding,” said the Liverpool manager.

“The make-up of his body is really good; he doesn’t put on weight, he has looked after himself really well and he looks at a really good level fitness-wise.

“We’ll assess that over the next 24 hours. We don’t need to rush him, we want to make sure he’s going to be ready to make an impact in the second part of the season.”

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Betting Special

Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City are all odds-on to win their respective Premier League games this weekend and may well be popular accumulator selections for many of the betting public who are studying the form ahead of the return of the Premier League.

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Jose Mourinho’s men are first up, kicking off the Premier League weekend at the KC Stadium as they take on Hull at 12:45pm on Saturday.

Steve Bruce’s side have been a tough nut to crack at home this season, just ask Liverpool, who suffered a 3-1 mauling at the hands of the Tigers.

This weekend though, they run into a Chelsea team who are currently on a run of four consecutive wins, including potentially tricky games against Liverpool and Southampton in the Premier League.

The Blues have the chance to leapfrog title rivals Arsenal and Manchester City to the summit of the table if they can secure three points and they look a solid bet to start the weekend’s betting.

Sunday sees two intriguing Premier League clashes, with Manchester City making the trip to St James’ Park to face a Newcastle side who have now lost three straight matches in league and cup.

Manuel Pellegrini’s men were difficult to trust on the road earlier in the season but three wins from their last four, despite conceding twice on all three occasions, suggests they may have too much firepower for a Magpies side who failed to find the net against West Brom and Arsenal in recent Premier League clashes.

Liverpool are the final leg of the treble as they head to the Britannia Stadium to take on Mark Hughes’ Stoke. Brendan Rodgers will know his side need to improve on their away performances of late, which have seen them pick up just four points from five matches, albeit they have faced four of the top six in that run.

The reverse fixture ended in a 1-0 win for the Reds and of the 10 games Rodgers’ side have played against sides in the bottom half of the Premier League they have an impressive record of nine wins and one draw which suggests that they could have enough to collect three points on Sunday afternoon.

New Paddy Power customers can avail of 8/1 (9.0) on Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool to win.
 

Jim Knight is Chief Betting Editor at Goal.com and has been tipping football games since he was old enough to place a bet. He is a Leicester City fan, writer and member of the We Are Going Up Podcast