Rafael Benitez was hopeful that Robbie Keane, Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso are going to be available for an important showdown against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge during the weekend.
None of them were able to finish the 1-1 draw on Wednesday at Athletico Madrid in a Champions League Group match.
Midfielder Alonso and striker Keane struggled with knocks, whereas captain Gerrard also suffered from fatigue during the game.
The nature of their injury will be known later in the day. Still, Benitez is having his fingers crossed, as he desires to field all his 3 stars against the Blues for a top spot in the Barclays Premier League table.
Reds are currently locked up with Chelsea at the top of Premier League standings having 20 points from 8 games.
During an interview, Benitez commented ‘The 3 players are currently having some fitness problems’.
‘Robbie has a little bit of trouble in his muscles. Gerrard was doing okay, though he was really fatigued during the Champions League game. However, Alonso has got a knock on the knees.’
Keane, who gave Liverpool the lead in the 14th minute at Vicente Calderon, was the first one to be replaced by Dirk Kuyt very early in the second half. He was followed by Gerrard and Alonso.
‘Although the situation with Keane doesn’t seem serious, we require taking full care of him as he is an important member of the side.’
‘We are giving full efforts to keep all our players 100% fit and have them playing with fresh legs.’
When asked that were there fitness concerns for Chelsea’s clash, Benitez replied ‘I don’t have any information now. I am keeping my fingers crossed and waiting for the final reports.’
