Liverpool legend John Aldridge has advised Brendan Rodgers to start unsettled midfielder Lucas Leiva when the Reds travel to Arsenal on Monday.
The former Republic of Ireland striker used his column in the Liverpool Echo to warn of the threat Arsenal pose on the counterattack, a threat he thinks Lucas would do a good job of countering, despite being seemingly close to leaving the club.
He wrote: ‘I’d play Lucas and I think we could have done with him at times against Bournemouth when we looked a little bit open and things got a bit tetchy.
‘He’s our only player for that situation. (Jordan) Henderson doesn’t do it, (James) Milner doesn’t do it, (Joe) Allen does it a little bit.
‘Milner could then be moved out to the right for the game to make us more solid.
‘I know he’s been promised that he’ll play centrally, but sometimes the manager has to say ‘just take one for the team’ and there’s nothing to stop him going back to the centre the following week.’
