Xabi Alonso

RAFAEL BENITEZ believes Xabi Alonso must raise his game to win back a place in the Liverpool starting line-up.

The Spanish midfielder, who played the full 90 minutes of the midweek defeat at West Ham United, failed to make even the bench for Saturday’s 3-0 victory over Sunderland at Anfield.

Alonso has struggled to rediscover his form after twice being sidelined this season with a metatarsal problem.

The 26-year-old suffered the initial problem in September which was then aggravated during his comeback match at home to Arsenal in late October.

Alonso returned to action six weeks ago, but has since started just five games as he competes with Javier Mascherano and Lucas for a place in central midfield alongside Steven Gerrard.

Alonso’s hopes of an immediate chance to stake his claims will be frustrated as the Spaniard is suspended for Sunday’s visit to Chelsea after picking up a fifth domestic booking of the season at Upton Park.

And Benitez said: “Xabi needs to step it up. When you are not 100% fit, you want to play every game because you need to play more games to build up your fitness.

“But if Gerrard, Mascherano or Lucas are playing well, it means there is competition for places which is good for the team.

“Xabi knows he needs to work harder if we wants to have a place in the team.

“Mascherano was back from suspension and he gives us balance in the middle and Gerrard can be more free going forward.

“Lucas was playing really well the other day so we had three midfielders, and we needed to have wingers or strikers on the bench. That’s why Alonso was not in the squad on Saturday.”

John Arne Riise and Harry Kewell also didn’t appear in the 16 as Liverpool earned their first league victory since Boxing Day with an ultimately comfortable victory to move within a point of fourth-placed Everton.

Benitez said: “We knew that it could be a good partnership. One is good in the air the other one is quick. It was a good option for us today.

“I like to use all the players I have in my squad and for this game, we knew that we could play long balls to the strikers.

“But I don’t think people are fair on Kuyt, he does a fantastic job for the team and the question is finding the balance between them. This game was good for Crouch and another game might be good for Kuyt.

“We used Crouch and Torres because we knew how Sunderland would mark in defence. They were both playing high, but Torres was sometimes playing between the lines.”

The win ended a run of just four points from five league games.

And the Anfield manager said: “It’s good to be able to talk about football again. As a manager you want to do that. If you score three goals and keep a clean sheet then that’s the way forward.

“We were talking before about the fans and how we must give them something back. They were patient and as soon as we scored you could see their celebrations. We were all together. They are fantastic and maybe it can be the same every game now and we can give them more goals.

“The players are happier and everyone is pushing together. The commitment of all the team was fantastic.

“The aim was just to keep try to keep going and score the first goal, and after that try to kill the game with the second goal.

“It was important to get the three points. A lot of times we have been playing well but drawing or losing today was important to win, to show character and the players on the pitch did that. That’s the key for me, thinking about the future.”

Meanwhile, Alvaro Arbeloa’s abdominal injury has forced him to withdraw from Spain’s squad to face France in a friendly on Wednesday.