Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard may face a spell of absence of up to 4 weeks due to a ‘significant’ hamstring injury sustained whilst on friendly duty for England on Wednesday night.

he skipper will have a scan later today but an early assessment has already been made by the club’s medical team at Melwood.

Gerrard left the field after 85 minutes of England’s 2-1 defeat to France on Wednesday night.

Dr Peter Brukner told Liverpoolfc.tv: “Steven injured his hamstring last night. He’s just been in for an early assessment here and it certainly looks like a significant hamstring injury.

“He’s just heading off for a scan as we speak and we should have the results of that tonight.

“He’s going to be out for a little while, I’m afraid. I’d imagine it could be three to four weeks.”

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Chelsea captain John Terry may be ruled out for months due to a chronic leg nerve problem. Terry is facing an indefinite spell on the sidelines as doctors work to cure a long-term nerve problem in his right leg.

The news is the latest blow for Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti, who saw his side beaten 3-0 at home by Sunderland on Sunday. Ancelotti is also dealing with persistent injuries to Frank Lampard and Michael Essien, and is playing Didier Drogba despite a bout of malaria.

Now he faces being without his captain Terry for weeks — maybe even months — as the defender attempts to get to the bottom of an injury that has been troubling him since the end of last season.

Terry said: ‘I have been struggling with a nerve pain coming from the top of my leg down to my hamstring and to the outside of my calf. It started towards the end of last season but with Chelsea being in the mix until the day of the FA Cup final, I didn’t have the chance to rest or pull out of games. Then I went straight to the World Cup with England.

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Manchester United and Manchester City drew their derby match 0 – 0 last night and Michael Essien scored for the Blues to beat Fulham 1 – 0.

Derided by United manager Alex Ferguson as “noisy neighbours”, mega-rich City failed to rattle the 18-times champions but were spared the agony of last season when they lost both league meetings to last-gasp goals.

While City and United huffed and puffed to little effect, champions Chelsea stole a march in the title race as Essien’s first-half goal proved enough to beat Fulham, although the Ghanaian blotted his copybook when he was sent off late on for a two-footed lunge at Clint Dempsey.

Essien was unmarked on the half hour to head in Salomon Kalou’s cross but Chelsea, beaten 2-0 at Liverpool on Sunday, were slapdash in front of goal and failed to kill off their west London rivals who have not won at Stamford Bridge since 1964.

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Chelsea‘s star striker Didier Drogba has contracted malaria according to manager Carlo Ancelotti.

The Ivory Coast striker complained of a fever on the eve of Sunday’s match against Liverpool and only came on as a second-half substitute. Chelsea lost 2-0.

Ancelotti said on Tuesday that Chelsea “found out last night when blood tests showed he had malaria. I don’t know where he got it from.”

Source: sport24.co.za

Manchester City‘s Mario Balotelli have accepted his red card and will miss Wednesday’s derby against Manchester United. City will appeal his statutory three-match ban.

Balotelli, who had already been booked, was shown a straight red card for violent conduct after appearing to kick out at Youssouf Mulumbu during Sunday’s 2-0 victory at the Hawthorns.

City claim the punishment is “excessive” for the severity of the foul and will have their appeal heard by the Independent Regulatory Commission on Tuesday.

The FA said in a statement: “The FA can confirm that Manchester City FC have today submitted a claim that, following the dismissal of Mario Balotelli for violent conduct, the standard punishment of an automatic three match ban is clearly excessive.”

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Fernando Torres fired on all cylinders to see Chelsea slump to their second defeat of the season and lose 2 – 0 to Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday.

The Spaniard was back to his predatory best with two well-taken goals in the first half, inspiring Liverpool to their third successive league win following their dismal start to the season.

Arsenal failed to take advantage of the leaders’ slip, however, as they were beaten 1-0 at home by Newcastle United courtesy of Andy Carroll’s header late in the first half.

Manchester City did gain ground with Italian striker Mario Balotelli scoring both goals in a comfortable 2-0 win at West Bromwich Albion before being sent off in the second half.

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Liverpool are ready to make a £5 million bid for Manchester City winger Shaun Wright-Phillips in the January transfer season.

Reds boss Roy Hodgson is expected to have a discussion with the club’s principal owner John W Henry concerning the future of the Merseysiders.

And The Mirror claims that the 29-year-old figures high in the club’s list of January transfer targets.

The former Chelsea midfielder is in the final year of his contract at Eastlands, and could leave the club for a cut-price fee as talks of a new deal are thought to have stalled.

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