Fernando Torres is best striker in the world, says Robbie Keane
FERNANDO TORRES returns to Anfield tonight carrying the tag of "best striker in the world."
That's the verdict of Robbie Keane, who is set to make his first home appearance since his £20million move from Spurs last week.
Torres scored 24 goals at Anfield in his debut season and is set to return to partner Keane for the friendly with Lazio, which kicks off at 8pm.
"For me, Torres has just got to be about the best striker in the world at the moment," said Keane, who is still to get off the mark in three friendly appearances for his new club.
"He will get better this season, which is great for Liverpool and has got to be a worry for the rest of the division.
"You saw how good he was at the European Championships, and I am sure scoring the winning goal in the final will have done his confidence the world of good.
"I am looking forward to playing alongside him - of course I am. Torres is the kind of striker that anyone would want to play alongside.
"He makes great runs, holds the ball up well to allow support to get around him and when he gets the chance in front of goal he is deadly.
"I cannot wait for the real stuff to start and hopefully we will work well together.
"I do not see any reason why we will not be a successful partnership but the manager has got a lot of options in attack so I am really going to have to hit the ground running."
David Ngog has certainly given manager Rafael Benitez plenty to think about in terms of competition up front, with a goal in each of the pre-season victories over Rangers and Valerenga in the past week.
He has also re-iterated that Dirk Kuyt remains part of his plans despite the possibility of German club Hamburg following up their surprise interest with a £16million bid for the Dutchman.
"I talked with Dirk Kuyt this morning," Benitez said yesterday. "I am really pleased with him and he will be staying with us."
The Liverpool mana-ger also received a boost when Ryan Babel made a successful return from injury in Holland's first game of the Olympics in Beijing yesterday.
Babel played for the first time since an ankle ligament injury ruled him out of Euro 2008 but he showed no signs of any after-effects as he completed his recovery with a full 90 minutes in the 0-0 draw with Nigeria.
Benitez does, however, face an anxious time hoping he comes through the tournament unscathed, along with midfielders Javier Mascherano and Lucas.
Mascherano featured in Argentina's 2-1 win over Ivory Coast while Lucas played his part in Brazil's 1-0 victory over Belgium.
Meanwhile, Benitez has also repeated his desire to keep Yossi Benayoun despite, like Kuyt, the player being a target for European suitors.
Roma want to sign the Israeli playmaker just a year after he joined Liverpool from West Ham but Benitez said: "It is true that Roma are interested in Yossi.
"I have talked to him and told him I want to keep him. He is a player with quality and has shown that during pre-season. I have no more news about Yossi - he will be staying with us."
Benayoun is also hav-ing a fruitful pre-season and, like Torres, Ngog and indeed Xabi Alonso, has scored in both of the last two friendlies.
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