A FIRST half injury to Steven Gerrard means that Liverpool’s captain has to be a doubt for the Champions League qualifier against Standard Liege a week from now but if Rafael Benitez is looking for leaders in midfield he need look no further than a galvanised Xabi Alonso.

A dip in form last season, the disagreement with his manager when he attended the birth of his first child when the team were playing at Internazionale and losing his place in the first XI all pointed to Alonso heading for the Anfield exit door this summer.

Liverpool’s very public pursuit of Aston Villa’s Gareth Barry seemed to be hastening the Spanish international’s departure, particularly as it was suggested that they would need to sell him to fund a deal for the England midfielder.

But despite interest from the likes of Juventus and even Arsenal – who tested Liverpool’s resolve with a cheeky enquiry way below the player’s valuation, nobody has yet come in with a satisfactory offer for the former Real Sociedad man.

So seven days before the start of Liverpool’s competitive season with Barry still at Villa Park having missed the registration deadline for Champions League qualifiers and Gerrard possibly on the sidelines, Alonso is standing up to be counted.

Rather than waiting for an offer to come in like a man resigned to his fate, Alonso has metaphorically rolled up his sleeves to try and convince Benitez around to the thinking of so many Liverpool fans that he still justifies his place in a red jersey.

Although Valerenga were technically the home side last night, there didn’t seem to be much home advantage for them at an Ullevaal Stadion which seemed to have more red-shirted spectators than those sporting the hosts’ blue and white colours.

Many of Liverpool’s enormous Norwegian fanbase were making their presence felt at the stadium and those travelling among the visiting contingent from closer to home were vastly outnumbered by their Nordic counterparts.

Followers of football in these parts have long had a soft spot for English club football where many of their leading players go to play.

But Liverpool’s Scandinavian support existed many years before John Arne Riise’s arrival at Anfield and given this showing will no doubt continue for long after his departure from the club.

It’s often said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and with their replica kits and scarves, your typical Norwegian Liverpool fan looks as much the part as the average Kopite.

Yet for all their enthusiasm, they still lack a certain degree of sportsmanship that Anfield regulars have been educated with as their booing of the home side’s players before the kick-off suggested.

However, such lessons could undoubtedly be learned with frequent trips to their heroes’ ground and given the sky high cost of living in Norway and the generous wages that go hand in hand, it comes as little surprise that so many of their fans embark on a modern day Norse invasion across the North Sea to English stadia each weekend – given the rising price of Premier League tickets and credit crunch back home, they could soon be the only supporters who can afford to get in.