Benítez minds the back as goals flow

Liverpool FC manager Rafael Benítez has called on his free-scoring side to find the right balance between attack and defence as they travel to ACF Fiorentina looking for a second straight victory in Group E. The Reds have scored 16 times in their past four Premier League games but have also looked uncharacteristically vulnerable at the back, and Benítez would no doubt be delighted with the same 1-0 scoreline his side achieved against Debreceni VSC on Matchday 1 when they meet the Viola. After losing their first match at Olympique Lyonnais, Fiorentina coach Cesare Prandelli must now contend with an in-form Fernando Torres without his own star striker Alberto Gilardino, who is suspended.

Quotes
Cesare Prandelli, Fiorentina coach
How can we stop Torres? With tactical organisation and a bit of luck. Considering what kind of player he is we have to hope he will not have one of his best nights, otherwise he is very difficult to stop. We will miss Gilardino and will start with Mutu and Jovetić in attack. It will be different but I hope as efficient. We will not give any point of reference to their defenders as our forwards will move a lot. Liverpool are a great side, with technique and physical strength. They are also very aggressive and it's difficult to break against them. When you face a team like Liverpool you need confidence. We must believe we can do it. I have always liked Benítez as a coach because he always faces problems in the best possible way and he has always respect for his opponents. I think he is a very smart person.

Rafael Benítez, Liverpool manager
We are winning and creating chances, so when you are attacking and attacking, sometimes you have problems in defence. We need to find the balance and we will try to improve. We are good enough in attack but can improve in defence and that's something we will try to manage in the next two or three weeks and try to get more clean sheets. I think Fernando is a very good striker and he is scoring goals now. He is on fire. But the Champions League is different to the Premier League, so we will see. He is one of our key players and hopefully he will be one of our key players tomorrow night. He is a great striker but when we talk about all these great strikers like Ibrahimović and Eto'o it depends on the weekend, because one week, one is in form and two weeks later it is someone else. I just think they are all great strikers.

Weekend results
26/09/09 AS Livorno Calcio 0-1 Fiorentina
(Jovetić 76pen)
• Dario Dainelli's 84th-minute dismissal did not prevent Cesare Prandelli from presiding over a club record 100th victory in all competitions as Fiorentina coach. He surpasses a mark set by Fulvio Bernardini, the man who led the Viola to their first Scudetto in 1956.

26/09/09 Liverpool 6-1 Hull City AFC
(Torres 12 28 47, Gerrard 61, Babel 88 90)
• The Hull victory was Liverpool's sixth in succession in all competitions. The Merseyside club last scored six goals in an 8-0 UEFA Champions League win against Beşiktaş JK – a competition record – on 6 November 2007, 103 games previously.

• Fernando Torres's hat-trick was his fourth for Liverpool with the previous three all coming in 2007/08.

• Geovanni's goal was the tenth Liverpool have conceded in this season's Premier League and the first not to come from a set-piece. Half have come in the 15 minutes before half-time. The Reds conceded 15 goals in their first six league matches, their highest total in the Premier League era.

Team news
• Fiorentina
Out: Mario Santana (thigh)
Doubtful: Gianluca Comotto (thigh)
Suspended: Alberto Gilardino
Misses next match if booked: none

• Liverpool
Out: Alberto Aquilani (ankle), Daniel Agger (back), Javier Mascherano (hamstring)
Doubtful: Yossi Benayoun (leg)
Suspended: none
Misses next match if booked: none

Background
• Fiorentina last won a home game in the UEFA Champions League proper in March 2000.

• Liverpool were unbeaten on their travels in last term's competition, with three wins and three draws.

• The Reds' last four away games against sides from Serie A have yielded two wins and two draws – as well as four clean sheets.

Did you know?
As a player, Fiorentina coach Cesare Prandelli was in the Juventus team that beat Liverpool 1-0 in the 1985 European Cup final, appearing for the final six minutes as a substitute.