Riera Added To Spain Squad

Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has handed Liverpool winger Albert Riera a recall for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Estonia and Belgium.

Riera's last appearance for Spain came during the March 26 friendly win over Italy in Elche but he has been rewarded for his promising start to life at Anfield by Del Bosque's decision to select him in place of the injured Diego Capel.

Riera was brought to Merseyside after Liverpool's pursuit of Gareth Barry finally came to an end and has impressed on the left of midfield, where he could get his chance for the European champions.

Skrtel set for Christmas return

Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel does not need an operation on his right knee and should return to action by Christmas.

The Slovakia centre-back damaged his posterior cruciate ligament after a sickening landing during the 3-2 win at Manchester City.

He received oxygen on the pitch and was carried off on a stretcher and it was feared that he could be out for the season.

But Reds spokesman Ian Cotton said: "Martin was examined by a specialist today, who confirmed the player does not require surgery and is expected to be back playing by Christmas."
Until his return, boss Rafael Benitez has Dan Agger and Sami Hyppia available to partner Jamie Carragher in the centre of defence.

Reds rocked by Skrtel blow

LIVERPOOL have been rocked with Martin Skrtel set to be ruled out for the season.

The Reds centre-back was carried off on a stretcher in yesterday's victory at Manchester City after landing awkwardly.

And the club have confirmed that a scan this morning has shown that the Slovakian ace has damaged the posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

A club spokeman said: "He will see a specialist tomorrow to assess the extent of the injury and will then have an accurate idea of the timescales involved before he is back playing again."

Liverpool do have plenty of cover at centre-back with Jamie Carragher, Daniel Agger and Sami Hyppia.

Kuyt: We're real contenders

HERO Dirk Kuyt reckons yesterday's last-gasp win proves Liverpool are genuine title contenders.

The Dutch ace popped up in the dying moments to crash home the winner in the 3-2 triumph at Manchester City.

Liverpool were trailing by two goals at half-time but bounced back to stay level on points with leaders Chelsea.

And Kuyt insists the comeback shows just how serious the Reds are this season.
The forward said: "We try to make a statement every week.

"Every three games we have a big game. We had Everton and PSV last week, and our target is just to win every game and try to be there by the end of the season.

"But it was vital to keep pace with Chelsea before the internationals. We can leave with a good feeling.

"We've already had one international break and we came back in our first game after it and beat Manchester United, so I wouldn't say it comes at a bad time.

"Anyway, we don't need any excuses. We'll just keep on going and see how we do against Wigan in our next game."

Benitez hails comeback kings

RAFA BENITEZ hailed his second-half heroes as they kept up their title charge with a thrilling comeback triumph.

The Reds, inspired by two-goal Fernando Torres, recovered from 2-0 down at the break.

They have now scored all but one of their 10 league goals this season in the second 45 minutes.

After seeing Dirk Kuyt hit the Kop’s injury-time winner at Eastlands, Benitez said: “This shows the character we have in the team. It shows the players are ready.

“Physically we are in good condition, so credit to the fitness coach for that. But also the mentality of the team is good.”

The win, though, came at a cost. Defender Martin Skrtel will have a scan on a twisted knee today.

Benitez added: “We were so disappointed with the injury to Martin. We will need to wait for the scan but it could be serious.

“The positive thing in the game was the reaction of the players.

“We made two mistakes for the goals against a team that has pace and ability. But our determination was fantastic and it shows the belief we have.”

Torres struck either side of Pablo Zabaleta’s red card for City and took his league tally so far to five. His first was Liverpool’s 1,000th in the Premier League.

Benitez added: “We know how important he is for us. He is always a threat, can score goals and make space for team-mates.”

City boss Mark Hughes admitted he could see why referee Peter Walton sent off Zabaleta for his lunge on Xabi Alonso.

But he tried to look on the positive side, as his team had given Liverpool a lot of first-half problems and scored through Stephen Ireland and Javier Garrido.

Hughes said: “It’s not much consolation but we were excellent in the first half. We took the game to an excellent Liverpool.

“We caused them as many problems as any team this season. We should have taken something.
“Pablo was trying to get the ball but made contact with Alonso’s standing leg.”

Man City 2 Liverpool 3

THIS was the type of fightback and victory that must make all Liverpool fans believe they really have a team to win the title.

What a win and what a game this was.

What a striker Liverpool have in Fernando Torres, who had the honour of claiming this famous club’s 1,000th Premier League goal yesterday.

And what character is running through the veins of this Kop side.

Rafa Benitez’s men were two-down at the break and seemingly out of the game.

City were attacking with flair and conviction, while Torres was not getting a sniff at the other end.

We know what boss Benitez can do in his half-time team talks, though.

We also know the character instilled in this great club to grab glory from seemingly the most desperate of situations.

Remember their most famous ever rise from the ashes in Istanbul in 2005. Then they were three-down to AC Milan, only to win the Champions League final on penalties.

Two goals here from Torres and an injury-time winner by Dirk Kuyt completed this ‘impossible’ and left a capacity Middle Eastlands with its belly as low as a sand snake.

Yet City had enjoyed a fantastic start, taking the lead after 19 minutes.

Shaun Wright-Phillips, the architect of so much that was good about the home team in the first half, got things going.

Charging down the wing, he cut the ball into the area and then retrieved it when Jo lost possession.

This time he fired it in to Robinho and Alvaro Arbeloa flipped a weak clearance straight to Stephen Ireland.