Derby double does little to inspire

Two unsatisfactory but probably fair derby results that does little to improve our league position, gives us another fixture headache and perhaps most tellingly confirms we've hit a slump.

Five draws in our last eight games is not the form of title contenders and three draws in our last three is a worrying predicament when all around us particularly Manchester United are grinding out wins.

Everton understandably and predictably shut up shop in both games and took their chances when they came. We on the other hand seemed to spent 180 minutes and particularly yesterday passing across the edge of their box unable to make any inroads and were saved only by the class of Steven Gerrard and of course Fernando Torres whose flick for the skipper's equaliser was a beautiful thing.

It's good to have Nando back and although he's not found the scoresheet in the last three he's shown flashes of his brilliance that indicate it won't be long before he's on the goal trail again.

That's in stark contrast to Robbie Keane who is rumoured to have walked out of Anfield yesterday after being told he wasn't in the squad. Benitez this morning confirmed that he'd not spoken to Keane since announcing he wasn't in the 18 for yesterday but shed no further light on the matter.

It does little to dampen the constant speculation that has surrounded the Irishman almost from the day he arrived at the club. He has not been an abject failure but he has failed to live up to the expectations we had of him and his perfomance in Monday's derby was anonymous and that's not the first time that's happened this season.

With a week left in the transfer window the rumours are unlikely to go away. Keane won't be sold, of that I reckon we can be pretty certain but if he continues to be in and out of the side and in and out of form then Benitez may look to cut his losses in the summer.

Of course it all depends where we are in the summer. We could be champions, we could be runners up, we could have scrapped the last Champions League place.

It's hard to know now where we are headed because we are in unknown territory. We set the standard and led the way since the beginning of December. Now, knocked off the top we face a challenge and it is a mighty one where every game counts starting with Wednesday's trip to Wigan where three points is an absolute must.