Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez is hopeful key trio Steven Gerrard, Xabi Alonso and Robbie Keane will be available for Sunday's crunch showdown at Chelsea.

None of them finished last night's 1-1 Champions League draw at Atletico Madrid, with striker Keane and midfielder Alonso both struggling with knocks, and captain Gerrard suffering from fatigue.

It will not be known until later today how serious the problems are but Benitez is keeping his fingers crossed there is nothing too serious to worry about.

"The three players have had some problems," said Benitez, whose side are locked at the top of the Barclays Premier League with Chelsea on 20 points. "It was a little bit of a muscle problem for Robbie. Gerrard is okay. He was really tired and Alonso has a knock on his knee."

Keane, who had given Liverpool a 14th-minute lead at the Vicente Calderon before Simao Sabrosa earned Atletico a point with a late equaliser, was the first to be taken off when he was replaced by Dirk Kuyt just after half-time.

"We need to check with Keane. I don't think it will be serious, but anyway we need to take care of him. He will see the doctor," Benitez said. "We are trying to keep players with fresh legs and 100 per cent fit, so we were trying to protect all of them."