Alberto Aquilani could make his debut tonight

Alberto Aquilani could figure for Liverpool in tonight's Carling Cup clash at Arsenal with the almost unbearable weight of expectations from half of Merseyside on his back. The 25-year-old Italian has been included in Rafa Benitez's squad, and is still feeling his way back from the ankle injury that sidelined him for seven months, but even his presence on the bench will be enough to reassure Liverpool fans that maybe, just maybe, the nightmare of the last few weeks was beginning to pass.

Aquilani was signed from Roma for £20m by Benitez over the summer, a quite extraordinary amount to pay for a player who was still recovering from surgery. For some at Anfield, the very fact that the Spaniard had signed a midfielder for so much who has already sat out a quarter of the Premier League campaign was proof enough of the manager's failings, a criticism rebuffed by Benitez - "We signed him for five years, not five matches." Most fans, however, are salivating at the chance to see him wreak havoc.

The Italian played for the reserves last week against Sunderland, and is likely to turn out for the second string again when they face Manchester United in the Lancashire Senior Cup, but Benitez has decided to take him to London tonight. "He will be with us. He is improving his fitness, so he's in the squad," the manager told Liverpoolfc.tv. "He cannot start at this moment but he will be there and maybe we can give him some minutes. If it's possible we will try to use him."

Benitez, who also has Daniel Agger returning from a back injury, continued: "We can see in every training session that he has quality, game intelligence and good movements. He is a different kind of player for us. We talk about using Gerrard deeper sometimes, but maybe in Aquilani we have a player who can play there and pass the ball really well in the final third." It is anticipated that Aquilani will play in a more advanced attacking role than Xabi Alonso, the player he was brought in to replace.

With Javier Mascherano suspended for his red card against Manchester United, Liverpool youngster Jay Spearing will likely start in midfield, making way for Aquilani if the manager decides the time is right. His longer term horizons were brightened by the news that Steven Gerrard could also be fit for Saturday's game at Fulham.