Riera is expected to tie up a move to Anfield today for a fee believed to be in the region of £8million.

And Benitez is also anticipating that Xabi Alonso will remain a Liverpool player.

But his joy may be tempered if the news regarding Fernando Torres' hamstring injury is not encouraging.

The Spanish star pulled up suddenly during the first half of the Reds' goalless draw at Aston Villa on Sunday and will undergo a scan on Monday to determine the extent of the damage.

Benitez said: "The deal for Riera is nearly done. We are waiting and hopefully it will be done.

"I have confidence that it will. It can improve us and give us a bit of balance.

"It is nearly done. We are in contact with Espanyol.

"Maybe it not done yet because it was the weekend. I also think that Alonso will be staying.

"But as regards Torres we will have to wait and see how serious the injury is.

"He will have a scan today. Clearly when you lose Steven Gerrard and then you lose Torres, it is always a problem.

"The only positive news is to have an international break now. At least they will have time to recover and we will see.

"It will be 10-15 days and Gerrard can maybe lose only one game. Torres could be more or less the same. It will be important to lose them for one game but not the worst situation."

Benitez also laughed off the abuse he received from Villa fans who perceived him as the villain in the on-off bid to sign midfielder Gareth Barry.

He said: "I was watching the TV one day and it was said the most difficult accent is the Birmingham accent so I couldn't understand anything they were saying to me!"

Villa manager Martin O'Neill was pleased with Barry's performance as he faced the Reds for the first time since the collapse of his transfer to Anfield.

O'Neill said: "Gareth did very well. He has had a lot to cope with in recent weeks with all the speculation.

"Three weeks ago I would have imagined he would be playing against us.

"It wasn't to be and we are pretty pleased and relieved that he is with us for the foreseeable future, and I thought it didn't bother him at all.

"He was getting a bit tired towards the end so I put him in at left-back where he can still be very solid for us"

O'Neill is now hoping Villa can be a test for all the leading sides as they bid to break into the top four.

He said: "We drew at Liverpool last season 2-2 in a thrilling game when conceding late on.

"We took four points off Chelsea and we led until the 93rd minute against Arsenal at the Emirates.

"When people talk about the records being not so good against these teams, I can only judge from the last couple of seasons and the points on the table.

"Now beating them, that would be certainly progress."