Kuyt: Alberto’s Aqui-sition a hit

Dirk Kuyt claims that Liverpool has brought in a quality player in the form of £20 million acquisition, Alberto Aquilani.

Aquilani took to the field for the first time for the Reds in a substitute appearance in Liverpool's Carling Cup loss to Arsenal on Wednesday.

The former Roma star has not featured in the current campaign after going under the knife for an ankle problem in May.

However, Kuyt insists that Aquilani has hit it well with his Liverpool team-mates on and off the pitch.

"We are happy for Alberto that he made his debut. Hopefully, we will see a lot more from him. He is a nice lad," Kuyt told The Sun.

"He tries to be involved in training and away from the pitch.

"He tried to play cards with us before the Arsenal game and he has attempted to pick up the language. To be honest, he is learning very quickly for an Italian!

"We all know Alberto is a quality player. I think Arsene Wenger said nice things about him.

"It's now up to him to see how good he is in the Premier League. He is desperate to play well in England."

Liverpool will visit Craven Cottage to take on Fulham on Saturday, and that is followed by an crucial game against Lyon next Wednesday in the Champions League.

Rafael Benitez's men have lost four Premier League games this season and two of their European fixtures in a row to leave their Champions League aspirations in tatters.

But Kuyt added: "We were a bit unlucky against Arsenal. We now go with a lot of confidence to Fulham.

"Everyone knows it is a big week for us with big games coming up. Hopefully, if we win at Fulham, we can be right back in it in the league.

"We believe we can win the next couple of games, get a good run and you never know what can happen. We beat Manchester United last week and we got a lift from that."

Reds team-mate Emiliano Insua added that Liverpool are playing better after their win over Manchester United broke their four-game losing streak.

Insua said: "Now we have to try and win at Fulham and then in the Champions League.

"We had a big win against Manchester United and we have always had belief in ourselves. We know we can do good things as a team."

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