The supporters of Manchester United and Liverpool respectively will tell you that they are not dependant solely on the services of Cristiano Ronaldo and Fernando Torres. They will point out that Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard are every bit as important as the two foreign imports and indeed there is merit in their argument.

Rooney and Gerrard are two supreme talents and would be able to command a place in the starting line up of any club side in the world. But neither of them are the 'main man' at their current clubs - those titles belong to Ronaldo and Torres. They are the players that their managers most need to be available for selection.

There is little doubt that Manchester United have a stronger squad than Liverpool and consequently when Ronaldo is absent they are better equipped to cope than their rivals. When Torres is missing from the Liverpool side they look likely to drop points because statistically their chances/goal conversion rate is seriously damaged.

Torres suffered a hamstring injury in the Champions League against Marseille on November 26 and the original prognosis was that he would be out for two weeks. That has now been extended and a Christmas return looks to be the most optimistic prediction.

As a manager there are a number of injuries that you dread your key players having. Groin and lower back injuries take for ever to heal and are usually played through but provide a plausible excuse when the performance level drops, which it invariably does. Hamstring and calf injuries seem to take forever to heal and the temptation to rush a player back is always there.

If a lack of patience is shown by the manager and the medical staff a re-occurrence is almost certainly guaranteed. The temptation to get Torres back into the fray as soon as possible is likely to be overpowering and should that course of action be taken it may have a horrendous effect on Liverpool's season. Better he misses the Christmas programme than return too early and face another lengthy lay off.

Torres was missed on Monday against West Ham and the draw was a hugely disappointing result for Benitez's men. Liverpool have six games before the end of month, five of them in the Premier League, and this is a critical stage of the season for them. They cannot afford another slip-up this weekend and it is vital that they gain all three points against Blackburn at Ewood Park. They are currently priced at [1.76] to win and although that looks very skinny it still looks to be the most likely outcome.

Despite having their noses in front at the moment Liverpool are priced at [6.0] to win the title having been backed as short as [3.8]. There would be no [6.0] available if Torres was fit and banging the goals in. With the Spanish star spending more time on the treatment table than on the pitch the layers are feeling brave.

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