Gerrard Out For Three Weeks With Torn Hamstring

Steven Gerrard will miss three weeks of Liverpool's Premiership title campaign after picking up a hamstring injury in Wednesday's 1-0 FA Cup defeat by city rivals Everton, his club said Thursday.

"A scan today has confirmed a tear in the hamstring of Steven's left leg. He will be out of action for about three weeks," a club spokesman told Liverpoolfc.tv.

The 28-year-old limped off after just 16 minutes of the fourth-round replay at Goodison Park and now looks set to miss the club's next two league encounters against Portsmouth and Manchester City, as well as England's friendly against Spain next week.

Gerrard's absence is a big blow as Liverpool, whose last league title came in 1990, chase reigning champions Manchester United, who lead them by two points with a game in hand.

If United retain their title they will join Liverpool on 18 championships.

Alex Ferguson's side have won the trophy ten times since Liverpool's last success.

The consequences of last night’s extra-time 1-0 defeat to city rivals Everton in the fourth round of the FA Cup has left more than wounded pride amongst Rafa Benitez’s Liverpool team.

Reports on Sky Sports News in the last few minutes have revealed that skipper Steven Gerrard, who limped out of the action, will be out for "21 days" after scans revealed that his hamstring injury was a tear.

Gerrard will miss a host of key games during the period, and the wisdom of Benitez’s decision to sell Robbie Keane to Tottenham Hotspur on deadline day now looks a little questionable.

Benitez, looking very disappointed as he spoke to post-match reporters in the wake of the replay defeat at Goodison Park last night, intimated, with a certain amout of bitterness in his tone, that Gerrard was over-tired due to being played too often, with Benitez saying that those who pressurise him into playing the England man every game had now seen what the result was.

Whether that is yet more of the Spaniard’s ‘mind games’, an activity at which he enjoys questionable success, is uncertain. What is more sure is that the talismanic Scouser Gerrard, the heartbeat of this Reds team, will not face Portsmouth at Fratton Park on Saturday, nor will he be fit for England’s friendly with Spain in Seville.

He will also be missing for Liverpool’s home game with Manchester City, but, as Liverpool were knocked out of the FA Cup last night, his team has a blank weekend. However, that is little comfort, as in 20 days time the Reds travel to the Bernebeu to take on Real Madrid in the Champions League.

If Liverpool’s figure of "21 days" is accurate, then their captain will be struggling to be fit in time for a game that many would class as the biggest of their season so far.