Arsenal vs Liverpool team news: Raheem Sterling will start against Arsenal, reveals Brendan Rodgers

'I expect him to react very strongly,' said Rodgers after this week's contract row

Raheem Sterling is expected to ‘perform to a high level’ (GETTY IMAGES)

Despite saying he was “flattered to be linked with Arsenal” three days before facing them, Raheem Sterling will play at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The Liverpool manager, Brendan Rodgers, was surprised at the timing and the content of the 20-year-old’s interview with the BBC on Wednesday, but he believes the striker is tough enough to deal with the fallout from it.

“I expect him to react very strongly,” said Rodgers. “He is a strong character. He is a young boy, still learning on and off the field, but I know he loves being here, loves the club and I expect him to perform at a high level. If he were a different player, I would maybe have something to think about but this kid has been phenomenal and I expect him to go on and perform to a high level for the club.”

Rodgers will start Sterling at Arsenal on Saturday (Getty Images)

Sterling may be fortunate that Liverpool are playing away immediately after he spoke about his future in an interview instigated by his agent, Aidy Ward. The reception the England forward is likely to face when Liverpool face Newcastle United at Anfield a week on Monday may not be pleasant.

In a poll conducted by the Liverpool Echo, 83 per cent blamed Sterling or Ward for the impasse over a new contract, while 76 per cent thought the club should not improve its offer of £100,000 a week to the player.

Perhaps more interestingly, only a quarter of Liverpool fans thought Sterling’s departure would “hit the club hard”. That, frankly, is the view of many of those running Anfield – that Sterling is good but not irreplaceable.