Voronin to start against Besiktas

RAFAEL BENITEZ admits he is grappling with a striking conundrum ahead of tomorrow’s crucial Champions’ League group meeting with Besiktas.

Defeat for Liverpool at Anfield will see last season’s beaten finalists exit the competition and heap huge pressure on Benitez, whose Premier League title challenge is already faltering after a disappointing, if unbeaten, start to the domestic season.

The Spaniard kept his cards close to his chest when asked if he planned to rotate again for the visit of the Turks, but it is expected that Andriy Voronin, who was not involved at Ewood Park after his wife gave birth early on Saturday, will return to the starting line-up.

“With the competition I want with my strikers, we have options,” Benitez said. “Voronin is an option, and it is the same with (Peter) Crouch.

“Andriy wasn’t at Blackburn, but each game depends on the players. Kuyt and Voronin have been playing well and creating enough chances to give them confidence.

The impact Crouch had upon the goalless draw with Blackburn was due, in at least small part, to the fact that his introduction had been preceded by winger Harry Kewell also being thrown into the fray.

Kewell has played precisely 120 minutes of first team football in the past 18 months and hasn’t started a game and, despite his impressive half-hour cameo at Ewood, Benitez looks certain to resist the temptation to start him tomorrow.

“It’s too soon,” said Benitez. “He cannot have the tempo of the competition without playing, but you cannot use him from the beginning, so you have to keep him on the bench.

“If Voronin has been here today, we could have been thinking of another solution. If Harry can play some games in-a-row, it could be easier for him. He has enough quality to play 20-25 minutes.”

Despite the disappointment of what the Liverpool manager freely conceded was two points dropped at Blackburn, Benitez remained upbeat about his team’s performance and the form which they carry with them into tomorrow’s Anfield clash.

“I think about the positive things,” said Benitez. “If we create those chances against Beskitas, I’m sure we will score. It is important for me to see the team going forward with confidence at the end and pressing.”