ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE:AFTER AN underwhelming 0-0 draw at Hull, a defiant Rafael Benitez, courted by Juventus, said he hoped to remain at Anfield – providing Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard were retained.

“I want to stay, it would never be easy to leave this club,” he said. “I had a meeting with the chairman the other day and it was positive, hopefully we will have another meeting this week and see if it gets done and dusted.

“If I stay I won’t be thinking of selling Gerrard and Torres. That’s just in case ‘senior sources’ at the club say otherwise and it’s an ‘exclusive’ in some newspapers.”

Martin Broughton, Liverpool’s new chairman, has also said he does not want to part with either of the club’s prize playing assets.