Fernando Torres looks set to miss Liverpool’s Merseyside derby clash with Everton after picking up an injury while on international duty.

The Spanish international limped out of training with his country ahead of Saturday’s Euro 2008 qualifier in Denmark, after tearing a muscle in his right leg.

Spain’s team doctor Genaro Borras confirmed the injury will likely keep the striker sidelined for 10 days.

Should this prove to be the case, he will miss the derby and be in a race to be fit for Liverpool’s must-win CL game at Besiktas the following Wednesday.

Aurelio fighting fit

One man hoping to be fit though is full back Fabio Aurelio, who limped out against Marseille. He told the Liverpool Echo: “When you have a big injury like I had and then play some games, it’s normal to get small problems. I’m just glad this happened when there was an international break coming up so I didn’t miss too many matches.

“I’ve had a bad time with injuries since I came to Liverpool but I prefer not to look back. I want to look to the future and hope I can show the fans what I’m capable of.

Finnan defends Rafa’s rotation

The Reds full back on rotation policy this week:

“Judge him (Rafa) by the trophies he has won, and they show he is a top manager.

“It (rotation) is obviously a subject that is raised a lot, and questions are asked, but it freshens up the squad, keeps players on their toes.

“If a player is unhappy because he is not playing, that’s only natural because you want to play in a lot of games.

“But with so many games at club level, and with internationals, it could be over 60 games per season.

“The manager calls the shots. You have to get used to it, and at a club like Liverpool, you are going to have to get used to it.

“So it’s only right to freshen things up, and I’m sure everyone is behind the manager.”

Internationals

Steven Gerrard captained England to a 3-0 victory in a very poor match against Estonia on Saturday afternoon… While Andriy Voronin played well for Ukraine as they lost to Scotland 3-1 at Hampden Park. That result all but ends Ukraine’s hopes of qualifying for Euro 2008, while Scotland are in a great position…

Fixture Changes

Live games for December were announced on Friday, with the Man United home match now moved to Sunday Dec. 16th (1:30pm live on Sky). The away match with Man City will now take place on Dec. 30th (4pm Sky) which means we will not have a match on new years day - the home game with Wigan now be played Jan 2nd (8pm).

And Setanta will be showing our trip to Reading on Dec. 11th (5:15pm).

Club confirm Ayesteran departure

It seems the club have finally come to an agreement with departed assistant manager Pako Ayesteran, with a press statement released today indicating Pako has left the club but will remain contracted to LFC until next summer, indicating he will be unable to join any other club this season.

The statement reads:

Pako Ayestaran is to step down from his position as assistant manager at Liverpool FC, although he will be contracted to the club through to June 30, 2008.
Chief executive Rick Parry commented: “Following discussions between Rafael Benitez and Pako Ayestaran, it has been agreed that it would be in the best interests of all parties if Pako leaves his post as assistant manager. Pako, however, will remain under contract to us until next summer.

“The club want to thank Pako for his hard work and contribution to our success over the past three years.”

Do you think Ayesteran’s departure has had an effect on the team’s performances? Vote in the poll on the right side of the site.