You'll Never Walk Alone

LONDON (AFP) - Liverpool remained in pole position in the English Premier League as the top four in the table all won on Saturday.

The Reds' 3-1 victory away to struggling Blackburn Rovers kept them a point ahead of Chelsea after the Londoners beat Bolton Wanderers 2-0.

Chelsea's win saw them surpass Tottenham Hotspur's English record of 10 successive top-flight away victories set in 1960.

Reigning champions Manchester United remained six points behind Liverpool in third place although it needed Nemanja Vidic's stoppage-time goal to secure a 1-0 win over managerless Sunderland at Old Trafford.

Arsenal stayed in the top four with a 1-0 win at home to Wigan secured by a goal from Emmanuel Adebayor.

Elsewhere, Newcastle, on course for victory after Michael Owen scored twice, were held to a 2-2 draw at home to Stoke while Hull came from behind to beat Middlesbrough 2-1.

Earlier, Fulham and Manchester City shared the points in a 1-1 draw at Craven Cottage.

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez was pleased by his side's return to winning ways after their goalless draw on Monday against lowly West Ham.

"Clearly it was an important three points for us," the Spaniard said. "We are in a very good position and we want to stay there."

Chelsea assistant manager Ray Wilkins, a former Blues captain, praised his team's attitude as well as their skill.

"I thought the spirit and commitment the guys showed was absolutely first-class, coupled with some extremely good passing of the ball as well."

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who saw Vidic shoot into an unguarded net after after Michael Carrick's deflected strike hit the post, said: "We deserved to win simply because we were the team that wanted to win and Sunderland, understandably, to survive."

Ferguson refused to criticise the relegation-threatened visitors' defensive approach in what was their first match since former United captain Roy Keane resigned as their manager.

"There have been better teams that have come here and played just the same with one-up and five across the middle of the park," said the Scot. "When you are down the bottom, you can understand the desperation to get a point."

Sunderland caretaker boss Ricky Sbragia said: "The players are disappointed but they gave us everything."

Spain international Xabi Alonso broke the deadlock at Ewood Park in the 69th minute when he sidefooted in Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard's cross.

Then, 10 minutes later, Yossi Benayoun went past Stephen Warnock before shooting beyond Paul Robinson in the Rovers goal.

Roque Santa Cruz pulled a goal back four minutes from time before Gerrard wrapped up the three points with an injury-time effort.

The defeat increased the pressure on Blackburn boss Paul Ince, the former Liverpool midfielder, with Rovers still rooted in the relegation zone after a fifth successive defeat.

Former Bolton striker Nicolas Anelka headed Chelsea into a ninth-minute at the Reebok Stadium.

The Blues made it 2-0 in spectacular fashion through Portugal midfielder Deco's acrobatic 'bicycle-kick' in the 21st minute.

All the goals at Hull's KC Stadium came in a frantic final 11 minutes.

Boro went ahead through Turkey international Tuncay Sanli only for Hull to equalise three minutes later when Bernard Mendy's shot eventually went in off goalkeeper Ross Turnbull for an own-goal.

Hull, fifth in the table, then went ahead through Marlon King's 85th minute penalty, with Boro's David Wheater sent-off for the foul on Geovanni that led to the spot-kick.

At St James' Park, Owen gave Newcastle the lead when he turned in an eighth-minute cross from Jonas Gutierrez before making it 2-0 in the 24th minute after good work by Obafemi Martins.

Stoke though pulled a goal back on the hour mark when Mamady Sidibe scored from close range.

And they were level in the dying seconds when Abdoulaye Faye scored against his former club, although the draw still left promoted Stoke searching for their first away league win this season.

Aston Villa will have a chance to go fifth when they face Everton on Sunday while Portsmouth will look to recover from the disappointment of their UEFA Cup exit away to bottom-of-the-table West Brom.

Tottenham travel to London rivals West Ham on Monday, a match that sees Spurs' former Hammers boss Harry Redknapp returning to Upton Park.

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has declared that striker Fernando Torres's hamstring injury is not worse than first believed.

The Spain international injured his hamstring in the Champions League clash with Marseille at Anfield and was said to be out for between two and three weeks.

It has since been rumoured that the 24-year-old will now be out for longer than expected after he visited a specialist in his native Spain.

The injury is a reoccurrence of the hamstring tear Torres picked up while on international duty with Spain earlier in the season and Benitez insists they want the problem sorted for good.

"Fernando is progressing and improving so hopefully he will be back sooner rather than later," the former Valencia boss told the club's official website.

"It's just a question of waiting and not pressuring the player. I was with him today and he was okay.

"He has a lot of confidence now, and when you have confidence, you can be fitter sooner.

"Everything is going well and I think it will be more or less the time we said before, maybe less"

Benitez insists that Torres' trip to see a specialist in Spain was beneficial and confirmed what the club had already agreed.

"It was just to confirm our diagnosis was right and that is the case. The injury was a relapse of the one he had before.

"The specialist has known Torres for a long time and he also has a good relationship with our physios who are working hard with him.

"We are really pleased because we know the problem and now we can find a solution. We know we have to work hard on it and I think he'll be okay."

It's nearly Christmas, Roque Santa Cruz is being linked with a move from Blackburn, and the headline writes itself.

For what says 'Christmas spirit' like, well, several litres of Christmas spirits, a 24-pack of Stella and granny's alarmingly sweet sherry?

Certainly not some red-suited bloke in a Dorset 'theme park' desperately trying to find the sellotape to re-attach the cotton wool to his chin.

Santa Cruz himself is a model professional, of course, which is just one of the reasons why Rafa Benitez wants to bring him to Anfield and send Jermaine Pennant in the opposite direction.

Benitez intends to return to the good old days of squad rotation to reduce the load on Fernando Torres's prima donna-ish hamstrings.

With Robbie Keane presently unable to finish his dinner and Dirk Kuyt thriving on the wing, Benitez wants an extra body up front.

Something in the region of £8m plus Pennant could persuade Paul Ince to do business as Rovers look to whack the loot on a decent defender or two.

It hardly needs saying but Gossip Shop will say it anyway - Liverpool face competition from Manchester City for Santa Cruz's signature.

It is probably fair to assume that Herita Ilunga won't make his loan move to West Ham permanent.

The Toulouse man has employed classic 'no disrespect, but...' tactics to diss the Hammers, saying: "Without being derogatory, West Ham are a second-rate club.

"Let's not kid ourselves - we are not an Arsenal, Manchester United or Chelsea.

"Once I have proved myself in a team such this, I can hope to make the step up to another club."

Without being derogatory, Ilunga is out of his mind if he thinks he can hold a candle to Gael Clichy, Patrice Evra or Cheryl Cole's WAG.

Wigan have slapped a £10m price tag on a 30-year-old striker who scores five goals a season and has six months left on his contract.

The reason? Steve Bruce reckons Emile Heskey could be the only thing standing between the Latics and the costly business that is releagation.

Freddy Adu has said it is "one of my dreams" to play for Tottenham. One of Gossip Shop's dreams is being chased through the streets of Bratislava by masked agents before waking up in a cold but strangely euphoric sweat. If a sweat can be euphoric.

Sulley Muntari strongly recommends that Michael Essien ditches Chelsea for Internazionale just as soon as he comes back from that knee injury.

Essien sleeps 14 hours a day, and they have very good mattresses in Italy.

Centre-back Alex is another man being lured away from Stamford Bridge by a Chelsea old boy.

This time it is Henk Ten Cate, who wants the Brazilian to move to Panathinaikos on loan.

Alex has fallen behind Branislav Ivanovic - who plays every match in an Albert Ferrer-themed wig - in Big Phil's defensive pecking order.

Finally, two stories that have little in common but are dull enough to merit lumping together.

Fulham will bid £6m to sign Kevin Doyle from Reading, while West Ham could flog Valon Behrami to Palermo as their money troubles continue. Have they not heard of Ocean Finance?

Liverpool have revealed that the hamstring injury suffered by star striker Fernando Torres is worse than first feared.

Torres had been expected to be out of action for two weeks with the injury he suffered during the Champions League victory against Marseille at Anfield on November 26.

However, the Spaniard has now been told by specialists that he will be out for at least four weeks - although Liverpool are refusing to put a timescale on his return to action.

"We first said two to three weeks but do not want to put a time on it now," said Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez.

"He will come back when he is ready. We will not rush him back.

"We want to resolve this problem once and for all and we will make sure we do that."

Torres has already missed five weeks of the campaign with a similar complaint, although the Reds have coped superbly in his previous absences, recording victories over Manchester United and Chelsea.

It is the fifth hamstring injury Torres has suffered in the 16 months since his arrival at Anfield from Atletico Madrid, having been hit by three similar injuries on international duty and two now with his club.

Liverpool are currently top of the Premier League but have drawn their last two home games without scoring a goal, with new signing Robbie Keane still finding his form since his £20 million move from Tottenham in the summer.

The FA will not take any action against Liverpool after their players wore T-shirts with a message of support for a fan who was jailed in 2005.Liverpool players wore the T-shirts in the warm-up for the Premier League match against West Ham on Monday.

Michael Shields was sentenced to 15 years in prison after being convicted of the attempted murder of Bulgarian waiter Martin Georgiev in Bulgaria on a holiday taken after seeing his side win the Champions League final in Istanbul.

Liverpool's players were seen wearing 'Free Michael now' T-shirts while warming up ahead of Monday's televised 0-0 draw with West Ham at Anfield.

Despite another man confessing to the attack, Shields was locked up and his sentence was reduced to 10 years on appeal. He was transferred to the UK to serve the remainder of his sentence, but his supporters have never halted their campaign to prove his innocence.

An FA spokesman said: "We have spoken to Liverpool Football Club about this matter. We understand that Michael Shields' case is a very emotive issue and one that many Liverpool players and fans feel strongly about.

"Having heard the club's explanation we will not be taking any formal action, and we are satisfied that they understand the sensitivities around football matches being used as a platform for political messages."

A judge at London's High Court decided last month that Shields' case should be heard in full by three judges and a judicial review hearing is due to begin on Thursday.

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez insists Robbie Keane "is a better player" than his current form suggests - and believes the goals will soon flow.The £20million summer signing was substituted for the 15th time this season as Liverpool were held 0-0 at home by West Ham on Monday night.

They did take over at the top of the Premier League, but it was anything but convincing and yet another occasion when the Reds have wasted a genuine opportunity to put clear water between themselves and their title rivals.

Keane looked a frustrated figure as he trudged off the Anfield pitch, to be replaced by rookie French striker David Ngog as Liverpool were battling to break down a determined West Ham rearguard.

And Keane's latest withdrawal from the fray by Benitez brought to a head an increasingly worrying situation for the Irishman.

Benitez said: "Robbie is a better player than the one we are seeing now."

Keane has managed just four goals this term, and only completed 90 minutes on three occasions in 22 appearances. He has come on as a substitute four times and been substituted 15 times.

Those statistics underline the problem for Benitez, with Keane struggling for form and confidence.

He is also suffering from the scenario that afflicted Craig Bellamy in his one season at Anfield.

With most teams opting to defend deep and in numbers at Anfield, there is little space for a quick striker to utilise his speed, and in that respect, Bellamy and Keane are very similar.

Benitez said: "We know what kind of player Robbie Keane is. He needs people around him to pass the ball well.

"I believe he will be okay, he will score more if we create chances for him.

"But if that does not happen we have to use players with different qualities to open up the game.

"Robbie does get disappointed when things are not going his way. He is a worker, but he can improve.

"It is a question of confidence. If we score first in this type of game then we will grow and win. Some players may be lacking in confidence, but if we keep creating chances we will be okay.

"Robbie, when he came off, was disappointed. But players always want to be out on the pitch for 90 minutes, but we were thinking of different solutions and Ngog did well when he came on, holding the ball up."

Benitez did his best to remain upbeat, but he knew only too well that two more points had been squandered from a winnable home game, just like Liverpool did against Stoke and Fulham.

He said: "It could have been three more points and top of the league. Clearly we are frustrated, but we are one point clear of Chelsea, and that is positive.

"Hopefully we will not be looking back at these three games, Stoke, Fulham and now West Ham, as points that would have counted. I hope we will look at the end of the season as this point being decisive.

"But we have lost two points again. We know that. But we were attacking and we were playing better than before, but we have to be disappointed."

Defender Jamie Carragher did not shy away from the issue. He said: "It is disappointing when you are not winning your home games because that is always what you want to do.

"But the positive thing is we have had three home games on the run and we have been poor in each one of them, but still qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League and we are top of the league.

"Normally when you are not playing well things go the other way, but in this case we have actually gone up the league which is a positive for us to take.

"We are probably going through a bit of a bad spell at the moment but we are delighted to be top. The performances are not as good as what we are

Liverpool went top of the Premier League but failed to open up a three-point gap as they were held to a 0-0 draw by West Ham at Anfield.

Rafael Benitez's side recorded their second consecutive goalless draw at home that sees them go just one point above Chelsea, while the Hammers move up to 13th.

The final whistle was greeted by a chorus of boos from the home support, who saw their team miss several good opportunities to open the scoring.

Chelsea's home defeat at the hands of Arsenal give Rafael Benitez's side the chance to go clear at the top of the table, at a time of year when - in recent times - their title hopes have already been quashed.

They had all of the first-half possession against a West Ham side that looked set on playing for a goalless draw right from the kick-off, but could not take any of the chances they created.

Big centre-back Sami Hyypia headed one clear header from a corner over the bar, and had another headed effort blocked on the line by Carlton Cole.

They had another goal-bound shot cleared when goalkeeper Robert Green's one-handed punch fell to Albert Riera, but the Spanish winger's first-time strike was blocked by Matthew Upson.

Playing without the injured Fernando Torres alongside him, lone Liverpool frontman Robbie Keane did not see much of the ball, due in equal part to his team's lack of width and the excellent defensive job done by the two West Ham centre-backs, Upson and James Collins.

The Irishman had one clear opportunity, but his strike from a tight angle was blocked by Collins.

West Ham had former Liverpool striker Craig Bellamy in their attack, and the Welshman almost opened the scoring against the run of play with a quick break only to see his long-range strike crash off the inside of the post with Pepe Reina beaten at full stretch.

Green played his part in keeping the scores level after the break when he tipped Yossi Benayoun's strike over bar, before saving Dirk Kuyt's near post strike in the closing stages.

Hyypia saw another headed chance glanced wide as Liverpool became more desperate to score, with young forward David N'Gog and then Ryan Babel coming on for Keane and Riera respectively.

As Liverpool chased the game, West Ham enjoyed more chances, with Cole heading wide from a corner before late substitute Luis Boa Morte blasted a shot into the crowd and Cole saw a shot saved after being wrongly flagged for offside in stoppage time.

Even Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard could not find his range, seeing several shots blocked, mis-kicked or fired off target from the edge of the box as Gianfranco Zola's side held on for a point that leaves them unbeaten in three matches.