Benitez has already pruned his squad with Andrea Dossena completing his £4m move back to Italy to Napoli yesterday.

The 28-year-old underwhelmed since arriving from Udinese for £7m 18 months ago, scoring twice – memorable strikes against Manchester United and Real Madrid – in 31 appearances for Liverpool.

Dossena has signed a four-and-a-half year with Napoli, and said: "I am happy to be able to wear the Napoli shirt. I have chosen a place of great prestige with big plans.

"I can't wait for the time to play at the San Paolo in front of an extraordinary public."

Andriy Voronin looks set to follow Dossena out of Anfield with a near-£2m switch to Dinamo Moscow nearing completion

Liverpool are without a game this weekend after tomorrow's home clash with Tottenham Hotspur fell foul of the wintry weather to have struck Merseyside this week.

A club spokesman said: "Although the Anfield pitch is perfectly playable for the game, the problem we face is the icy condition of the approach roads and paths in the immediate vicinity of the stadium.

"The safety of our fans is paramount and an assessment of both the prevailing conditions and the weather forecast for the next 48 hours has been made in arriving at the decision to call off the match. Both local police and the City Council were fully involved in this assessment.

"All existing tickets will remain valid for the rearranged game. We will also offer refunds and will publish a deadline date for refunds once the rearranged fixture date is announced, such that we can re-sell any returned seats to other supporters."