Trio back for trip to Newcastle

Liverpool could welcome back Glen Johnson, Aly Cissokho and Joe Allen for tomorrow’s trip to Newcastle United.

Lucas returns after suspension though the game has come too soon for fellow Brazil international Philippe Coutinho.

The Reds will reclaim top spot if they avoid defeat; with second place Arsenal not playing until later in the day.

Captain Steven Gerrard, who fired England to next summer’s World Cup finals in Brazil with a fine individual effort against Poland at Wembley on Tuesday evening, will be hoping for his one hundredth Premier League goal against a side who he has already hit six against in his career.

Alan Pardew’s men currently sit in eleventh place having won three and lost three of their opening seven games.

Elsewhere, Brendan Rodgers has played down claims that he was set to become Harry Redknapp’s assistant if the QPR manager had been given the England job, the Independent understands.

Redknapp, who has revealed the plans he had for the national team in his autobiography, revealed that he approached the then Swansea City manager when it looked almost certain that he would succeed Fabio Capello.

However, Rodgers had admitted that “there was no opinion either way”, before saying that he would have considered the role out of the respect that he has for the former Spurs manager.