Former Reds player El-Hadji Diouf will be back from suspension to line up against his former club for Bolton Wanderers tomorrow. Diouf was arguably the worst signing ever made by a Liverpool manager, the manager in question being Gerard Houllier. Houllier signed him as a striker when he could have bought Nicolas Anelka, the player that had just been through a successful six-month loan spell at Anfield. Diouf never worked as a striker and was moved to the right side of midfield, where he continued to fail to impress. When he spat at a Celtic fan during a European game his days were certainly numbered. Rafa Benitez wouldn’t even consider using him when he arrived, and the Senegalese international went on loan to Bolton, later making the deal permanent. Diouf is well-liked by Sam Allardyce, who seems to be able to get more out of the player than Houllier ever could, and he’ll certainly be a danger to the Reds 10-game unbeaten run. Bolton have no fresh injury concerns.
Diouf wore number nine for Liverpool, a shirt normally associated with legends like Ian Rush and Robbie Fowler. The player that wears that number now is Djibril Cisse, a striker trying hard to live up to the true reputation of a Liverpool number nine. There are still rumours, despite the denials, that his Anfield days are numbered, but he’s certainly not going anywhere during this transfer window. As for tomorrow’s game, Cisse is looking slightly doubtful after he was taken off with a muscle strain during the game on Saturday against West Brom. If he misses the game he’ll join fellow striker Fernando Morientes and midfielder Bolo Zenden on the sidelines.
Bolton (from): Jaaskelainen, O’Brien, Ben Haim, Jaidi, N’Gotty, Gardner, Giannakopoulos, Speed, Faye, Nolan, Nakata, Davies, Diouf, Walker, Hunt, Okocha, Vaz Te, Fadiga, Borgetti.
Liverpool (from): Reina, Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Warnock, Traore, Riise, Luis Garcia, Xabi Alonso, Gerrard, Hamann, Kewell, Cisse, Crouch, Sinama-Pongolle, Sissoko, Carson, Dudek.