The trip to London to play Tottenham Hotspur will be one of the trickiest season openers for Liverpool, with the participation of skipper Steven Gerrard, who faces a daunting plank of 27.20 rating points to beat, uncertain.

The England international set the plank in the 3:0 win over West Ham United last season with a double. Gerrard is second at the moment in the FTBL world ranking of midfielders with a tally of 181.04 points, behind Chelsea’s Frank Lampard (211.89 points).

The situation could change after the game if Gerrard loses rating points: he would then surrender the second spot to Barcelona’s Argentine prodigy Lionel Messi (178.41 points). Gerrard needs to score, preferably twice, in order to avoid a slump.