Daniel Sturridge's Injury Provides Opportunity for Adam Lallana at Liverpool

Injury to Daniel Sturridge while on international duty with England is clearly a big blow to Liverpool.

The 25-year-old forward suffered a thigh injury in training with Roy Hodgson's side and is expected to miss two to three weeks' action, according to Dominic Fifield of The Guardian.

It's yet another injury Sturridge has suffered while on international duty with England, who seems to incur injuries when he isn't following the personalised training schedule he benefits from at Liverpool.

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Sturridge's injury, especially so early in the new season, will be a blow to Brendan Rodgers, but it does provide an example of how much improved his squad is following the nine signings made this summer.

From Liverpool's last match at Tottenham, to their next match—at home to Aston Villa next Saturday—Rodgers could choose from any of the following to replace Sturridge in the starting XI: Philippe Coutinho, Adam Lallana, Fabio Borini, Rickie Lambert or Lazar Markovic.

Which of those he opts for will depend largely on whether the boss looks to continue with the 4-4-2 midfield diamond shape and thus replace Sturridge with another forward alongside Mario Balotelli, or revert back to 4-3-3 shape and bring in a creative player to play either side of the Italian.

Lallana

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It would be wise to expect that the person who will come into the side is Adam Lallana, signed from Southampton in the summer but yet to make his debut for the club due to injury suffered days into pre-season training.

The versatile 26-year-old will be available to make his debut against Villa, having taken part in a behind-closed-doors friendly with Wolves at Melwood on Friday.

Rodgers is clearly a huge admirer of Lallana, spending a reported £25 million on the Englishman, telling the official LFC website "We are confident he will fit perfectly with the culture we have at Liverpool."

Lallana can operate either in the No. 10 role—which could work especially if Rodgers pushes Raheem Sterling into a more advanced role alongside Balotelli—or from the left of a front three if Rodgers goes for a change in shape from the midfield diamond.

Indeed, Rodgers could bring in both Lallana and Lambert, who impressed as a combination last season for Southampton. The two of them combined to create 32 chances (compared to Luis Suarez and Sturridge creating 27 for each other, via Andrew Beasley). Their immediate understanding could be beneficial against Villa.

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Villa could be a side that prove difficult to break down at Anfield, meaning a player of Lallana's creative qualities would be useful.

Paul Lambert's side have conceded just one goal from their opening three Premier League games—that one being a deflected goal—and took a surprise 2-0 lead in this encounter at Anfield last season after just 36 minutes. They'll be confident of getting a result.

Lallana, who scored nine goals for Southampton last season and created 68 chances (four more than Coutinho for Liverpool, as per Squawka), will therefore be required to unlock what could be a resolute defence.

A midfield trio of Steven Gerrard, Jordan Henderson and Coutinho, with Lallana operating from the left and Sterling from the right, looks to have enough quality and creativity to supply the opportunities for Balotelli in the centre-forward role.

Add in the threat of Markovic and Borini, or Lambert, from the bench and Liverpool will have plenty of attacking threat even without Sturridge.

Sturridge's injury is a huge blow, but it's also an excellent opportunity for several new signings—Lallana, Balotelli and Markovic—to impress.

Lallana in particular should benefit from being able to come straight into the side and get his Liverpool career underway.