Liverpool made it four Premier League victories out of five with an impressive 2-0 victory over Aston Villa at Villa Park on Saturday.
There was a large increase in Reds fans playing the lottery after the match as well with Fabio Borini and Rickie Lambert both scoring in the same match!
Brendan Rodgers’ side are now five points off of fourth place and head into Tuesday night’s Capital One Cup first leg with Chelsea high on confidence.
As well as Borini and Lambert both scoring, another interesting and surprising factor of yesterday’s win was the fact Jordon Ibe made an appearance from the bench.
The 19-year-old was called back from a loan spell at Derby County on Friday having scored five goals under Steve McClaren to help the Rams into the automatic promotion places.
His form at Pride Park has convinced Brendan Rodgers to call him back early and it remains to be seen what part this talented youngster has to play in the remainder of the seasons’ matches.
Here we have identified five other Liverpool starlets who could soon be following Ibe into the first team.
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Click on Jordon Ibe to reveal 5 Liverpool starlets to follow him into the Reds’ first team.
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Jordan Rossiter
Liverpool fans will be hoping they have found the new Steven Gerrard in Jordan Rossiter, rather than the new Jay Spearing. The youngster has already done something Spearing didn’t manage during his Anfield career however, and get on the scoresheet.
The 17-year-old Scouser managed a dream debut for his boyhood club, scoring within less than 10 minutes of his first start in the Capital One cup game against Middlesbrough in September.
Rossiter has been with the club since the age of nine and Liverpool have high hopes for him.
However, with the midfield department at Anfield especially packed at present, a loan move for the youngster in order to gain some regular first team football would be best for all concerned.
He has made the subs bench in the Premier League once this season.
Jordan Williams
With so many Jordan’s fighting for a place in the Liverpool midfield, we were surprised to learn Katie Price isn’t on the books at Anfield!
Nineteen-year-old Jordan Williams is another who made an appearance in that Capital One Cup tie against Middlesbrough where he coolly slotted two penalties in front of the Kop in the contender for the longest penalty shootout of all-time.
Williams was on the bench for Saturday’s win over Aston Villa, with the fact the Welshman is capable of playing at centre back aswell perhaps working in his favour.
With Kolo Toure at the African Cup on Nations this month, any injury problems in the Reds backline could see Williams called upon.
Joao Carlos Teixeira
The 22-year-old completed a move to Anfield from Sporting Lisbon in 2012 and caught the eye in the NextGen series. He has been described as ‘the new Deco’ in some quarters and made his first team debut in the crucial 2-3 win over Fulham last February.
Teixeira has been capped by Portugal at all levels up to Under-21 and is currently spending a season long loan at Championship club Brighton & Hove Albion where he has made 17 league appearances and scored two goals.
Similar to Philippe Coutinho, Teixeira’s talents could also be one of the reasons behind Liverpool’s decision to allow Suso to complete a move to AC Milan this month.
Sheyi Ojo
Liverpool appear to have produced another pacy teenage winger in the form of 18-year-old Sheyi Ojo who has been impressing for the youth side over the past four years.
Ojo was signed from MK Dons in 2011 and has gone on to establish himself as one of the most exciting young talents at the club.
Capable of playing on either flank, Ojo made the bench for Liverpool’s Boxing Day victory over Burnley giving the impression that his first team debut is not very far away.
His form for the Reds’ Under-21 side has also seen him give a call up to the England Under-18’s squad.
Tiago Ilori
Liverpool paid £8 million for the signing of highly-rated Portuguese defender Tiago Ilori in the summer of 2013 yet he is yet to kick a ball for the first team.
The Reds reportedly beat Chelsea to land the 21-year-old from Sporting Lisbon but he has since been sent out on two loan spells.
He spent the second half of last season on loan at Spanish club Granada where he made nine league appearances whilst this term he has been sent to Bordeux in Ligue 1 where injury has restricted him to just four league appearances.
£8 million is not a sum to be sniffed at so you can’t help but feel we will be seeing Ilori in the first team at some stage in the near future – perhaps in the place of 33-year-old Kolo Toure.
