Torres' interventions kept the Reds in the thick of the developing race at the top of the table on Saturday, when Arsenal - who thrashed Wigan 4-0 at the Emirates Stadium - were the only other obvious title aspirants in action.

Torres struck first in the 19th minute, but Alessandro Diamanti was fortunate to level from the penalty spot after slipping as he struck the ball. Dirk Kuyt put Liverpool back in front five minutes before the break, only for Carlton Cole to equalise for a second time on the stroke of half-time.

That left Torres to head the winner in the 75th minute, delighting Benitez.

"If he continues to play like that, he can be one of the best," he said.

"When you talk about the Premier League you talk about a lot of players with quality, so it is not easy to pick just one - but he is among the best.

"He is a very good player, and it is easy to see his qualities. If he is keen to learn, he will improve."

West Ham boss Gianfranco Zola said of Torres: "He is a great striker; he is not easy to mark.

"It is not easy to defend against players like him."

Arsene Wenger was forced to defend Emmanuel Eboue after another cheating row brewed during the Gunners' victory.

Eboue was booked for handball when he got on the end of a cross midway through the first half, just a few weeks after Eduardo's diving saga erupted.

"Of course we want to stamp out cheating in the game," said Arsenal manager Wenger.

"It is not necessarily cheating sometimes - it [handball] can be a reflex as well."

Wigan boss Roberto Martinez was furious with his side's display.

"We were very poor," he admitted.

"That was not our style at all. We did not get anywhere near the Arsenal players in the first half."

Bolton manager Gary Megson took a sideswipe at his defenders after the 1-1 draw at home to Stoke.

Matt Taylor converted a penalty with a minute to go and gave Bolton a share of the spoils after Danny Collins had bundled over Sam Ricketts.

Stoke were stunned, because they had been in sight of their first away win in the league thanks to Dave Kitson's third goal of the season in the 52nd minute.

The manner of that strike angered Megson, who has seen his side pick up only four points from five games.

Kitson skipped away from Ricketts after Ricardo Fuller had won the ball in the air.

Megson said: "You will not see a worse goal to concede at any level, never mind professional football.

"It was a lack of determination and that cannot happen. People have got to do a lot more to score against you.

"We have dealt with corners, every throw-in from Rory Delap, but gave away a terrible goal."

Burnley manager Owen Coyle hailed his match-winner David Nugent after the on-loan striker came off the bench to sink Sunderland with two late goals as the Clarets won the lunchtime kick-off 3-1 at Turf Moor.

Despite Nugent's topsy-turvy club career, Coyle revealed he leapt at the chance to sign him on a six-month deal on transfer deadline day - and wants him at the club for keeps.

Coyle said: "I've always had the greatest belief in David as a top-class player, and that's why we've brought him in.

"His two finishes were top class, and he has got to use them as a stepping stone. I would love to have him permanently - and as long as he's happy, I'm sure he can keep producing on the pitch."

Birmingham manager Alex McLeish revealed match-winner Garry O'Connor almost missed Blues' 1-0 win at Hull through illness.

O'Connor came off the bench to settle a scrappy contest 1-0 by heading home after 75 minutes.

Injuries had forced McLeish to name just six substitutes for the game, and it could have been worse had O'Connor not recovered from a sickness bug.

McLeish said: "We have had a catalogue of injuries that would absolutely frighten you. We were down to the bare bones.

"Garry was on his sickbed as well. He was off Thursday and came in Friday and did a little jog.

"He came in after 10 minutes and the puppy-dog eyes were there - I think he wanted me to send him home.

"I said, 'You need to come. We'll put you in a car, not the bus, and you can have a single room'.

"He came down this morning and was bright and bubbly, devoured his breakfast and said he was available if I needed him. I said, 'I really need you'."

Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill believes it will be difficult to leave Gabriel Agbonlahor out of England's World Cup squad if he maintains his current form.

Agbonlahor was not chosen by Fabio Capello for England's recent matches with Slovenia and Croatia at Wembley.

But he struck for the third successive match to help Villa gain a comfortable 2-0 home win over Portsmouth - their fourth in a row.

Agbonlahor showed his strength and power in shaking off Pompey defender Tal Ben-Haim to score the decisive second goal two minutes before the interval.

O'Neill said of Agbonlahor: "I know South Africa is a long way off - but if he can continue that sort of form he will be hard to ignore."