Torres looks to Riera for help with new goal standard

Fernando Torres goes into his first league match for Liverpool in six weeks determined to start making the most of fellow Spaniard Albert Riera's arrival on Merseyside.

Torres, who will line up for Rafael Benitez's side at Bolton on Saturday, has set his sights on beating last season's haul of 33 goals and has identified eight-million-pound signing Riera as the man to help him do it.

The pair have played together only four times since Riera arrived at Anfield from Espanyol in August and Torres, who has five goals so far in this campaign, believes Reds fans have yet to see how much of a difference his compatriot can make.

“He is a different player to what we've had because he is a real winger,” Torres said.

“He is capable of going on the outside or coming inside. He can dribble and cross – he is a complete player. He is really important to the team already.

“As a striker, it is great to have someone who can cross the ball so well.

“Having him in the team should create more space for the other forwards because defenders need to watch Albert. That should help the rest of us get more opportunities.”

Liverpool head to Bolton still smarting from a 4-2 League Cup defeat at Tottenham in midweek.

Rafael Benitez's side are however joint top of the Premier League with Chelsea and Dutch forward Ryan Babel believes early season wins over the Londoners and Manchester United have demonstrated the club's title-winning credentials.

“At the end of the season I think the difference will be the games we play against the top sides,” said Babel.

“We have already beaten Manchester United and Chelsea so hopefully we can take points from Arsenal as well now.

“But we try not to look at the others and focus on ourselves. It's clear that these next few months will be very important. We have a lot of games to play but it's very important to keep everybody fit and try to win most of the games we play.”

After fielding a weakened side at Tottenham, Liverpool will be back to full strength at Bolton with Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard returning to the centre of defence and midfield respectively while Torres will start his first league match since October 5 after playing for nearly an hour at Spurs.