Liverpool striker Torres out for six weeks

Liverpool will be without striker Fernando Torres for six weeks, the club announced on Thursday as the fall-out from their FA Cup loss to Reading hit home.

The Reds will also be missing their other star player, Steven Gerrard, for at least a fortnight while Israeli play-maker Yossi Benayoun could be sidelined for up to a month.

Spain international forward Torres, whose right knee injury will also be a worry for his compatriots ahead of this year’s World Cup in South Africa, lasted barely half an hour against Reading at Anfield on Wednesday while Liverpool captain Gerrard went off at half-time with a hamstring strain.

To make matters worse, Benayoun – one of Liverpool’s better players in what has been a lacklustre season so far for the Merseysiders – sustained a fractured rib in the 2-1 extra-time loss to the Championship club.

Torres is set to undergo an operation but England midfielder Gerrard may not need surgery.

“Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres both underwent scans earlier today (Thursday) after coming off in the FA Cup tie against Reading,” a Liverpool spokesman said.

“Steven has a hamstring strain and will be out for a fortnight, while Fernando has torn a cartilage in his right knee. The injury will require surgery and he is expected to be sidelined for six weeks.

“Yossi Benayoun also suffered a fractured rib in the game and will be unavailable for between three and four weeks.”

The trio will miss this weekend’s match against Stoke and the subsequent Premier League encounters with Tottenham and Wolves but the Reds will hope to have Gerrard back in time to face Bolton on January 30.

Meanwhile the extent of Torres’s injury means he is set to miss next month’s Merseyside derby against Everton and February’s league match with Arsenal as well as the fixture with high-flyers Manchester City.

This triple setback comes at a time when beleaguered Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez is under mounting pressure, having “guaranteed” his side, who some had tipped to end their 20-year-long English title drought this season, would finish fourth in the Premier League this term.

Before Wednesday’s match, the five-times European champions had already crashed out of the Champions League at the group stage as well as exiting the League Cup, while their faltering Premier League campaign has left them 12 points behind leaders Chelsea and in seventh place.

Now their only chance of salvaging a major trophy this season rests with the Europa League, the second string European tournament that is the successor to the UEFA Cup.