Christian Benteke is expected to be sidelined for a fortnight with the hamstring strain he suffered against Norwich City, putting the Liverpool striker’s availability for the Merseyside derby in doubt.

Liverpool’s £32.5m summer signing from Aston Villa was withdrawn at half-time during Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Norwich after reporting a tight hamstring.

The 24-year-old had an MRI scan on the problem on Tuesday and is expected to require the standard two weeks to recover from a strain.

Benteke, who was already ruled out of Wednesday’s Capital One Cup tie against Carlisle United, will miss a reunion with Villa at Anfield on Saturday plus the Europa League tie at home to FC Sion next Thursday. A two-week absence would also leave the centre-forward struggling to be fit for Liverpool’s visit to Everton in the first Merseyside derby of the season a week on Sunday.

The news will come as another setback for Brendan Rodgers, who lost his captain, Jordan Henderson, to a broken bone in his foot last Friday and saw Carlo Ancelotti linked with his job on Wednesday. Liverpool have denied making any approach to the former Milan, Chelsea and Real Madrid manager, or sounding out any potential replacements for Rodgers.