Selection nightmare for Rafa

Rafael Benitez faces a selection headache going into a crucial week of the season as Sotirios Kyrgiakos compounds Liverpool’s injury woes.

Benitez must make a decision over a number of players ahead of tomorrow’s Premier League visit to Sunderland.

Gerrard limped out of training for England on Tuesday and was sent back to Melwood to continue his rehabilitation, with a subsequent scan revealing the skipper had likely suffered a minor tear to his adductor muscle.

Torres was an unused substitute for Spain in their win against Bosnia on Wednesday after complaining of feeling pain in his groin during training whenever striking a ball.

Both players have not been ruled out, with Liverpool desperate for a winning start to a week that also sees them host Lyon in the Champions League before entertaining title rivals Manchester United.

A Liverpool statement said yesterday: "Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres will not train with the rest of the squad today, but will continue to receive treatment and will be assessed again tomorrow."

There are further issues for Benitez to consider, with Emiliano Insua, Javier Mascherano and Lucas Leiva only returning to Merseyside later today from international duty in the final round of South American World Cup qualifiers.

Dirk Kuyt picked up a minor ankle knock while playing for Holland in Australia last Saturday while Andriy Voronin was unfit to play for Ukraine against Andorra in midweek.

Definitely out, though, is Kyrgiakos, who suffered a serious knee injury during Greece’s 2-1 win over Luxembourg on Wednesday.

Initial reports claimed the centre-back had ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament and will spend at least four months on the sidelines.

Liverpool, though, are hopeful the 30-year-old will be back in action sooner, and were assessing his injury last night.

There was some encouraging news, however, with Alberto Aquilani training fully yesterday for the first time following his £20m summer arrival from Roma.

Aquilaini has been recovering from an ankle operation, and although he has no chance of appearing in next week’s games, the Italian could make his debut in the Carling Cup visit to Arsenal on October 28.