Gerrard, Johnson and Aquilani to miss Fulham clash

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez is set to be without captain Steven Gerrard, defender Glen Johnson and Italian midfielder Alberto Aquilani for Saturday’s match at Fulham.

Gerrard will miss his third successive match with the groin injury he suffered playing for England against Ukraine earlier this month.

England right-back Glen Johnson is out with a calf problem, while former Roma star Aquilani, who only made his first-team debut at Arsenal in the League Cup on Wednesday, is struggling with a virus.

Benitez told Liverpoolfc.tv: “Gerrard still has a problem with his groin so he won’t be available this weekend.

“At this moment he’s working with the physios. He has to keep working and we’ll decide next week how he progresses.

“Johnson has a small tear in his calf, so we will lose him for maybe one week.

“In terms of fitness Aquilani’s doing well. His ankle is coming on well. The problem we have now is that he has a virus, so it will be difficult for him to be available.”

Benitez will also give a late fitness test to Spain striker Fernando Torres, who scored against Manchester United last weekend despite being less than 100 percent fit due to a groin injury.

“He is improving. He’s been training and working with the physios. We will see if he is a little bit better this weekend,” Benitez added.

“It’s a difficult situation because if you play games, you often don’t have too much time to get fit again.”