Liverpool await decision on Sterling 'slap'
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers faces an anxious wait to discover whether he may lose Raheem Sterling to suspension.
There is a chance the 20-year-old could be retrospectively punished for slapping defender Federico Fernandez on the head as the pair clashed in the Reds’ 4-1 victory at Anfield.
A similar fate awaits former Liverpool midfielder Jonjo Shelvey after he appeared to fling an elbow into Emre Can’s face in the first half.
Rodgers will lose defender Martin Skrtel to a one-match suspension after he accumulated his fifth booking of the season, but the loss of Sterling, currently playing as a central striker, could potentially be longer and more damaging.
However, the Liverpool manager hopes there will be no further action.
“I have seen the two. The cameras will probably show it 100 times on Tuesday and we will get bored of watching it,” said Rodgers.
“Jonjo has flung his arm out and caught Emre on the side of his head.
“Young Raheem’s incident, the centre-half has slapped him on the side of the head and he has put his hand up and slapped him on the side of the head.
“I think the referee has called both right and got on with the game.”
Swansea boss Garry Monk said he had yet to see the Shelvey incident properly and would review video footage before commenting.
“I haven’t seen it. It is one I have to look at on the way home and judge it,” he said.
“From the talk from you guys (the media) I’ll have to have a look at it.”
The disciplinary issues could not take away from an impressive two-goal performance from Adam Lallana.
Alberto Moreno marked his recall to the side with the opening goal and, when Swansea goalkeeper Lucasz Fabianski’s kick cannoned off Lallana and into the net, Liverpool appeared to be coasting.
However, Gylfi Sigurdsson pulled a goal back immediately and only when Lallana danced through the defence for Liverpool’s third, followed by a Shelvey own goal, were the hosts able to relax.
“I am very pleased. He is a wonderfully gifted player and it was a big move coming here from Southampton where he was the captain,” Rodgers said of Lallana.
“For all the players coming in to a club this size it is difficult because you never know with the expectations.
“They are now starting adapting to that, to what we are doing here and where we want to go.
“It is a very young team, with an average age 22-23, so I was very pleased with the overall performance of Adam.”
Monk was disappointed with the errors which cost his side at Anfield.
He said: “I thought we played okay, we had the most possession but really we made too many mistakes and that is what cost us in the end.
“If you make mistakes at this level against a talented Liverpool side they will get punished.”
