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Rickie Lambert has been given a rare start for Liverpool as Brendan Rodgers makes three changes to the side that lost against Hull for the Premier League match against Queens Park Rangers.
Lambert is given just his sixth start in the league since his £4m move from Southampton last summer, and he replaces Mario Balotelli who misses out with a foot injury. Steven Gerrard returns to the starting line-up in place of Joe Allen, while Jordan Ibe drops to the bench with Adam Lallana preferred.
QPR will play the game with black armbands on, following the tragic news that defender Rio Ferdinand’s wife, Rebecca Ellison, has died following a short-term cancer illness.
Ferdinand plays no part in the team having been absent since the start of March, but a number of his teammates have taken to Twitter to express their sorrow at the news and send messages of support to the former England captain.
Balotelli misses out through injury (Getty Images) QPR manager Chris Ramsey makes just one change to the side that drew 0-0 with West Ham as Leroy Fer comes back in, with Bobby Zamora dropping to the bench.
Show all 10 1 /1010 players who could leave Liverpool this summer 10 players who could leave Liverpool this summer Steven Gerrard The Liverpool captain is a certainty to leave this year as he has announced a move to Major League Soccer franchise LA Galaxy, following in the footsteps of his former England team-mate David Beckham and ex-Reds colleague Robbie Keane. Having made his Liverpool debut in 1998, the final Premier League game this season – against Stoke – will bring the curtain down on a tremendous career at Anfield.
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10 players who could leave Liverpool this summer Brad Jones The goalkeeper situation at Liverpool is a tricky one, given that Rodgers elected to drop first-choice Simon Mignolet earlier in the season after his poor run of form up to Christmas. In came Brad Jones, but the back-up was far from convincing and suffered an injury which allowed Mignolet to return to the starting line-up and rekindle something of his best form. The club are believed to be actively searching for a goalkeeper to provide competition for Mignolet, which would likely spell the end of Jones’ five-year stay at Anfield.
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10 players who could leave Liverpool this summer Glen Johnson The England defender has been hampered by injuries this season and has fallen down the pecking order on the international stage as a result. His current deal expires at the end of the season, and with no sign of a new offer coming his way – given his current £120,000-a-week wages – it looks as though the 30-year-old will be available for a free transfer in the summer.
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10 players who could leave Liverpool this summer Kolo Toure While Johnson is on his way out, Kolo Toure has the option of whether to stay at Anfield or move on. The club have offered him a new short-term contract with his current deal expiring in just over two months. However, while the Ivory Coast international mulls over his future, the belief is that he could hold the key in luring his brother Yaya Toure to the club should he leave Manchester City.
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10 players who could leave Liverpool this summer Martin Skrtel A third defender could be set for an exit with Martin Skrtel’s future far from clear. The Slovakian captain is yet to agree a new contract, and German club Wolfsburg have emerged as a possible suitor for the 30-year-old should he decide to leave the club in the summer.
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10 players who could leave Liverpool this summer Javier Manquillo The Spanish full-back in currently on a season-long loan deal with the club from Spanish side Atletico Madrid, with the Reds holding an option to sign him on a permanent transfer in the summer. Having appeared both on the right and the left of defence as well as further forward in midfield, Manquillo has struggled to tie-down a permanent position in Rodgers’ side, and the club are unlikely to take-up the option to complete a permanent move for him, paving the way for him to move back to Madrid.
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10 players who could leave Liverpool this summer Raheem Sterling Much has been made over the interest in Raheem Sterling given his refusal to sign a new £100,000-a-year contract with the club. Sterling has put off talks until the end of the season, but with two years remaining in his current deal, the club stress they will not be forced to sell this summer. That could change though should Manchester City or Chelsea come calling with a large offer, while European heavyweights Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and most recently Juventus are continuing to be linked with a move.
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10 players who could leave Liverpool this summer Mario Balotelli The Italian’s £16m move from AC Milan has been nothing short of a disaster, and he looks set to leave the club in the summer after just one season with the club. Balotelli has failed to find anything close to his best, and with Rodgers losing patience over the 24-year-old, who recently ruled himself out of two important matches in their hunt for a top-four finish, it appears his stay at the club will be brought to a premature end.
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10 players who could leave Liverpool this summer Rickie Lambert Rickie Lambert arrived in the summer in a fairy-tale story that culminated a full circle, having been released by the club he supported when he was a young boy. With a relatively cheap £4m transfer fee from Southampton, Liverpool hinted that Lambert would never be the go-to striker, but even by those standards he has seen his opportunities significantly limited, and needs to leave the club in the summer if he is to make anything of the later years of his career.
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10 players who could leave Liverpool this summer Fabio Borini Another Italian striker who was determined to show Rodgers just what he was made of proved he couldn’t cut it at the club. Fabio Borini rejected a second loan spell with Sunderland in order to admirably fight for his place, but the return of Daniel Sturridge and Rodgers’ decision to push Sterling further forward limited Borini to brief cameos from the bench at best. The expectation is that he will join Balotelli and Lambert in being shipped on this summer.
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Line-ups:
Liverpool: Mignolet, Johnson, Lovren, Skrtel, Can, Henderson, Gerrard, Coutinho, Lallana, Sterling, Lambert.
Subs: Ward, Toure, Moreno, Leiva, Markovic, Allen, Ibe.
QPR: Green, Onuoha, Caulker, Dunne, Hill, Phillips, Sandro, Barton, Henry, Fer, Austin.
Subs: McCarthy, Wright-Phillips, Yun, Kranjcar, Hoilett, Zamora, Grego-Cox.
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