Benitez in crisis talks with flagging Liverpool players

Rafa Benitez has held crisis talks with his Liverpool players after Saturday's defeat at Sunderland.

The Mirror says the Anfield boss read the riot act to his squad after the beach ball incident against Sunderland on Saturday which drove another stake into his title hopes.

Liverpool now face a daunting week which could make or break their season with home games against Lyon in the Champions League on Tuesday followed by the crunch Premier League showdown against arch-rivals Manchester United on Sunday.

Benitez put his players through their paces yesterday after refusing to blame the Kop fan who threw on the beach ball which caused the freak deflected goal or the referee who allowed it.

 
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