Despite another increase in speculation on the future of Liverpool coach Rafa Benitez after the team suffered an embarrassing defeat to the Portsmouth, a team rooted to the bottom of the Premier League since August, the Spaniard is unlikely to be sacked before the end of the season.

The win over Liverpool was only Portsmouth's fourth of the season, and saw the likes of Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres comfortably shackled by a defence that had only kept one clean sheet since October. In another blow for Liverpool, Javier Mascherano was sent off and will be suspended for the entire festive programme.

After the game, Benitez refused to answer questions about his future at Anfield. However, sources close to the club suggest that the Spaniard will be given time to put an end to the current malaise. Part of the reason for that, as a number of outlets have pointed out, is that the £4.5 million-a-year contract Benitez was handed in March would mean a pay-out of more than £20 million would be needed to remove him and his backroom staff.

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That is a financial hit the club would be reluctant to take, especially after failing to qualify for the lucrative knock-out stages of the Uefa Champions League. Whether Benitez will be given money to spend in January to turn Liverpool's season around is unknown. The club's owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, are both set for windfalls of hundreds of millions of dollars from the sales of the Texas Rangers and Montreal Canadiens, but whether Benitez will see any of that money remains to be seen.