AUGUST 5
Benitez hopeful on Riera injury

By James Carroll - LFC Official Website

Rafa Benitez is confident the injury Albert Riera sustained in the 2-0 victory over FC Lyn on Wednesday evening is not serious.

The Spain winger was introduced as a half-time substitute in Oslo, but was forced to leave the field towards the end of the match after falling awkwardly.

"He twisted his ankle, but I don't think it is serious," Benitez told Liverpoolfc.tv. "We had to take him off, but it is always better to be careful with these things."

The Reds recorded their second victory of the pre-season campaign courtesy of goals from strike duo Andriy Voronin and David Ngog.

After Sunday's 3-0 reversal to Espanyol in Barcelona, Benitez admitted he was delighted with the response from his side.

"We had a lot of opportunities in attack. It was an open game and they played well on the counter-attack, so I think it was a good match for the fans," he said.

"There are plenty of positives and you can see the fitness of some players is improving. Some of them are a little bit tired, but we are still working.

"Voronin and Ngog worked hard in the first half with good movement and Babel was very good at beating players.

"In the second half you could see the quality of Gerrard and Mascherano. The team as a whole were good, but two or three players were a little bit better."

The Anfield boss also reserved praise for goalkeeper Diego Cavalieri after a highly impressive performance from the Brazilian custodian.

He added: "He is a fantastic professional and a very good 'keeper, as you saw with some of the great saves he made.

"I am really pleased for him because sometimes when you don't play too many games it is important to play in this type of match and do well."

AUGUST 5
Liverpool too strong for FC Lyn

TEAMtalk

Liverpool defeated FC Lyn 2-0 in Oslo on Wednesday night with Andriy Voronin and David Ngog on target.

The Reds were in action for the first time since Xabi Alonso's move to Real Madrid and the announcement that a fee has been agreed for Roma's Alberto Aquilani.

Voronin, who spent last season on loan at Hertha Berlin, opened the scoring for Liverpool on 45 minutes.

Voronin headed in Ryan Babel's cross and Ngog steered home a cut-back from Andrea Dossena just before the hour mark to seal the win.

Spain winger Albert Riera was introduced as a half-time substitute, but was forced to leave the field towards the end of the match after falling awkwardly.

Thor Zakariassen ©