Rafa Benitez will leave hospital to prepare for Arsenal v Liverpool

The Brazilian was in hospital overnight on Sunday following his kidney stone operation, before returning to Stamford Bridge to oversee his side's 1-1 draw with West Ham later that afternoon.

However, Benitez now has time to recover before readying his players for their testing trip to the Emirates on Sunday.

A Liverpool spokesman said: "Rafa was admitted to hospital last night after suffering problems with a kidney stone.

"He will undergo a minor operation this afternoon and is expected to return to work within two or three days.

"He remains in good spirits and everyone at Liverpool wishes him a very speedy recovery."

Liverpool go to Arsenal hoping to extend their impressive away record and lead at the top before Chelsea go to Everton on Monday.

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Benitez's side have won six out of eight games on their travels in the league this season but have dropped eight points at home, including the current run of three successive draws.

After drawing 0-0 with Fulham and West Ham, Liverpool had to fight back from 2-0 down against Hull on Saturday, but then played the best part of an hour without managing to find a way through for the winner.

And midfielder Yossi Benayoun has admitted that the team is getting desperate to score the goals that will make their home games more comfortable.

"We were all really disappointed to find ourselves two goals down because I thought we started the game very well and we were the better side for the first 10 to 15 minutes," said Benayoun.

"Then we conceded a goal and lost a bit of control, but after that we showed a lot of character to come back.

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"Even after we went two goals down we never thought it was game over, especially after our experiences this season.

"But in the second half we did not play with our heads enough. We were desperate to score and didn't use the wide areas enough."

Captain Steven Gerrard scored twice to earn the point against Hull, with Liverpool's top scorer taking his tally to 11 this season.

And Benayoun added: "We know how important the captain is to the team in every game, not just in this one.

"He showed a lot of character again and when he pushes forward he takes the rest of the team with him. This is why he is one of the best midfielders in the world.

"We were all grateful for the goals he scored against Hull because they got us back into the game."