LIVERPOOL WILL BE without captain Steven Gerard for the start of the new Premier League season, the club has confirmed.
The midfielder is in hospital receiving treatment for an infection related to his troublesome groin injury and will not be fit to play until September at the earliest.
The 31-year-old has not played for the Reds since having surgery on a groin problem in March and will miss games against Sunderland, Arsenal and Bolton as well as England’s Euro 2012 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Wales.