FA Premiership:Rafael Benitez, the Liverpool manager, will leave it late before deciding whether Craig Bellamy can overcome sufficiently the strain of his on-going court case to face Manchester City at Anfield.

Bellamy was due to return to Merseyside last night after spending the last two days in Cardiff after the start of his trial for alleged assault. He has denied all charges.

Injuries have so weakened Benitez's squad that Bellamy's inclusion may yet depend on his willingness to play out of position on the left of midfield.

The manager said: "We need to think whether Craig will be involved or not. At the end of the day sometimes it is good to come back and play football because you can focus solely on that but at other times you can lose your concentration because of these things. I don't think the mental worry is a problem. If I say to him, 'Do you want to play?' I feel he will be ready and focused but I also need to decide about the balance of the team.

"We don't have a lot of players because of several injuries so we need to decide between a senior player such as Craig or a young player who can cover the left side for us."

Bellamy has maintained his fitness by training with the Championship leaders, Cardiff City, since Thursday. Benitez said: "We have been talking with Cardiff and our backroom team have spoken to their coaches. We have a training plan for Craig, so he knows what to do. He is very professional and really focused. You ask him to do things and he will do it."

Uefa has opened an investigation into the 13th-minute incident in which Blackburn's Morten Gamst Pedersen claimed a plastic beer cup was thrown at him during the goalless draw against Feyenoord in Thursday's Uefa Cup tie in Rotterdam. The match delegate's report will be considered by the control and disciplinary panel on December 7th.

Pedersen said: "I got beer in my face and had sticky eyes afterwards. It could have been worse. Of course you think what might have happened if it had been something hard but it was just plastic."

n William Gallas has conceded that Arsenal have been too laid back against lesser opponents this season and have thrown away points with "silly mistakes". The French defender has demanded a more ruthless approach for the climb up the Premiership.

Arsenal have won at Manchester United and beaten Liverpool 3-0 but have lost at West Ham and drawn at home to Aston Villa, Everton, Middlesbrough and Newcastle in the league. "We're having difficulty being consistent," said Gallas. "We've lost matches that we should have won. We have to be more attentive because we're making some silly mistakes which are costing us dear. It's mainly a mental problem. Occasionally we need to put aside our game plans and have a greater killer instinct. It works well against the big teams but we're a bit too laid-back against the smaller teams."

He expects a positive response but misses today's visit to Bolton with a thigh injury which will keep him out until after the Chelsea game on December 10th.

Arsenal come up against their former striker Nicolas Anelka today with his old manager, Arsene Wenger, describing him as a victim of his own success. "He helped us win the double in his first year but that created a lot of unrest around him," Wenger said.

Guardian Service