Liverpool Prepare for Wolves Test; Gerrard and Agger Back in Reds' Squad

Liverpool return to competitive action tomorrow evening for the first time in two weeks with a home game against the Premier League's bottom team, Wolverhampton Wanderers.

After recent match postponements due to adverse weather conditions of the Fulham and Blackpool games, Liverpool will be chomping at the bit to get back to playing football, and will be looking for a win to fully erase memories of the poor 3-1 defeat at Newcastle—the last time Liverpool managed a League outing.

The game against Wolves on Wednesday night could well feature two players missing for Liverpool for a considerable period; Daniel Agger has been back in full training after his calcification problems in his calf, and captain Steven Gerrard has fully recovered from the hamstring injury sustained on international duty with England.

With the return of those two players, boss Roy Hodgson has an almost entirely fit senior squad to call upon, with just home-grown duo Jamie Carragher (shoulder) and Jay Spearing (ankle) still missing through injury.

Hodgson will therefore face a few selection headaches, not the least of which will be whether to continue with the 4:4:2 system favoured recently or go back to playing one player just off Fernando Torres.

With Raul Meireles and Lucas Leiva impressing as a midfield pair in recent home games, playing Gerrard off Torres could be an option for Liverpool, though Hodgson has certainly preferred a two-pronged attack whenever possible.

Reds' fans—and no doubt the player himself—will be hoping that the boss doesn't see fit to switch Meireles back out to the right hand side, where he was ineffective and out of position for much of the earlier part of the season. Lucas has been dominant in a defensive shield role for some time now, but against a struggling Wolves outfit who fail to create too many chances, Meireles and Gerrard may seem the best combination as Liverpool seek to extend their four-match winning streak in home league matches.

Up front, David Ngog and Ryan Babel will battle to partner Fernando Torres, though should Meireles be switched wide, don't bet against Dirk Kuyt returning up top. Maxi or Joe Cole should play on the left side.

With Carragher out injured, it is possible that Agger will slot straight back into the centre of defence at the expense of Sotirios Kyrgiakos. In fairness to the big Greek, he has arguably been in far better form than his recent partner, Martin Skrtel, who has suffered from several mistakes his season and was at fault for at least one goal against Newcastle, but the grizzled, long-haired, battle-hardened warrior Kyrgiakos is still seen by the management as the fourth-choice defender; the experienced aerial bombardier to call upon in time of need.

For Wolves, manager Mick McCarthy could name an entirely different 11 after his team's poor performance against Wigan—two down inside 20 minutes at home, Wolves could not recover and slipped to the bottom of the table. In fact, Wolves have won only twice in their past eight league matches and are now one of only two teams who are yet to win on the road this season in the Premiership.

Irish frontman Kevin Doyle is likely to offer the greatest danger to the Reds' hopes of taking all three points, though Stephen Fletcher (five goals) is their current top scorer and is always likely to enter the game from the bench if Wolves are chasing the game. Stephen Hunt and Matt Jarvis on the wings are also potent threats with crosses and runs at the opposition full backs, so Johnson and, presumably, Konchesky will have to be alert to the threat of counter-attacks.

All in all, this is a very winnable game for Liverpool and one which they should very much be looking at to start their late Christmas fixture list with three points. Wolves' wretched away form is due largely to their inability to find the back of the net—only five goals scored away from home this season—and, given that Liverpool have themselves only conceded six at home, Pepe Reina and co. should be in for a relatively comfortable evening, assuming no foolish slip-ups that have plagued recent away performances.

Preferred Liverpool side: Reina; Johnson, Kyrgiakos, Agger, Aurelio; Kuyt, Gerrard, Meireles, Cole; Torres, Ngog. Subs, Jones, Skrtel, Konchesky, Lucas, Maxi, Babel, Jovanovic.

Probable Liverpool side: Reina; Johnson, Skrtel, Agger, Konchesky; Meireles, Lucas; Kuyt, Gerrard, Maxi; Torres. Subs, Jones, Kyrgiakos, Aurelio, Poulsen, Cole, Babel, Ngog.