Fiorentina hit by injury blow to striker Mutu

Adrian Mutu will be unavailable for Fiorentina's visit to Udinese on Sunday and also risks missing their last two Champions League group matches after the club said he needed surgery on a knee problem.

The Romania forward suffered the injury in Wednesday's 5-2 win over Hungarians Debrecen in the Champions League, which consolidated the Italians' hold on second place but now the striker looks likely to miss the rest of the campaign after picking up the injury.

"Adrian Mutu has suffered an injury to the medial meniscus on the knee opposite to the one that was operated on [earlier this year], during the course of the match last night [Wednesday]," read the club's statement. "The athlete will undergo surgery within the next few days."

Fiorentina did not say how long he would be sidelined, but Italian media have speculated he will be absent for no more than a month.

The news will come as a boost to Liverpool who need to beat Fiorentina in order to progress to the knockout stages of the Champions League.