Torres is Key to Title - Gerrard

Steven Gerrard believes Liverpool can still win the Premier League, provided that Fernando Torres stays fit. The Liverpool captain hailed the scorer of their equalizer in the 4-1 win against Manchester United as the best player in the world.

"He's magic," Gerrard said. "I know I'm going to be biased but I don't think that anyone will argue against me that he's the best striker in the world. If we keep him fit from now to the end of the season it's going to be an exciting finish."

This was only the ninth time Gerrard and the Spanish striker have played together in the league, mainly because of Torres's injury problems. "It's frustrating not having him out there and playing alongside him," Gerrard said. "We have a good understanding. I believe that if we'd had him for more games we'd be closer or even in front of United."

"If we can play like that every week we can win more games and maybe win something else," Torres said. "Except it might be difficult to play like that every week."

Sir Alex Ferguson put United's heaviest home defeat for 17 years (Queens Park Rangers, same score, New Year's Day 1992) down to a bad day at the office. "It was an off day, we made mistakes, and I didn't expect that," Ferguson said. "We accept we had a bad day in terms of the goals we lost but I don't think we played all that badly. The important thing now is to respond."