Benitez defies Reds’ strikers to score goals

WITH Rafael Benitez’s future beginning to look clearer, the Liverpool boss has challenged his shot-shy strikers to prove their value in the fallen European champions’ lineup.

Benitez will again shuffle his pack of misfiring forwards for the crucial home game against Fulham tonight. One goal in a combined 51 hours of play between Robbie Fowler, Fernando Morientes, Djibril Cisse and Peter Crouch has left the Spaniard desperate to find a solution as Liverpool aim to secure a top-four finish that will ensure Champions League participation next season.

In a week that has seen Liverpool slump out of the Champions League and lose at Arsenal - a result that leaves them five points behind second-placed Manchester United - senior stars like Jose Reina and Steven Gerrard have made pleas for Benitez to sign top strikers of the class of Michael Owen and Thierry Henry.