By Hughie Southon

David Moyes will reveal within the next couple of hours whether the rumours are correct and that Declan Rice is not in Liverpool this afternoon.

If all our fears are confirmed – and there is still no certainty – then one can only assume that Mark Noble could play despite tweaking a knee in shooting practice.

The alternative is to play Lanzini alongside Soucek as we suggested earlier should Tomas  have been rested given the gash around his eye.

Should Nobes get the shout we can be sure he will play his way through any pain barrier  and will give his all and has always been a big occasion player.

But with so few matches behind him Liverpool away would be a very big ask as it would be for Alex Kral who has a meagre number of first team action minutes behind him since he arrived on loan.

The upside – and that’s an unusual word to use in the circumstances – is that this was never a match we would have expected to get much from if we’re honest.

And of course we should remember that Liverpool have three midfielders missing with injury today.