Benitez is thought to be on his way out of Anfield after reports emerged that the club are prepared to offer the Spaniard a £3million pay-off to walk away.
The Reds are yet to comment on the reports, but speaking on Sky Sports News former Liverpoolstar Fairclough - who played for the club from 1974 to 1983 - said Dalglish would be an ideal short-term replacement.
High-profile candidates such as Roy Hodgson,Guus Hiddink and Martin O'Neill could be put off by the instability surrounding the ownership of the club, so Dalglish - currently working for the club's youth academy - has been tipped to step into the manager's position.
Dalglish led Liverpool to three league titles in his first spell as manager between 1985 and 1991, but hasn't managed at the top level since he left Celtic in 2000.
However, Fairclough says he would be up to the task of taking Liverpool forward.
Fairclough told Sky Sports News: "People will probably be shy to commit and Liverpool probably have a little bit of a problem on their hands in that sense
"But with Kenny Dalglish in the back room, I wouldn't rule against someone like him being involved in how the club goes forward in a short-term way.
"Fans would take to that. There will be a few question marks; Kenny's been out of the game in a managerial sense for a few years now.
"Does he still have his finger on the pulse? Some people may think he won't, but knowing Kenny he's a very shrewd individual and he knows exactly what's going on.
"He'll know exactly how to approach this situation and he'll have his own ideas. I know he has his own ideas on the players who are currently at the club and who he'd want to involve.
"I don't think it would be a bad appointment, certainly in the short term."
Fairclough feels it is in the best interests of Liverpool for Benitez to leave after six years in charge, following the apparent breakdown in his relationship with club captain Steven Gerrard.
After a difficult season, in which Liverpool finished seventh, Fairclough believes Gerrard might be tempted to walk away from Anfield unless a new manager is put in place.
"There does need to be a change, there's no doubt about that," Fairclough added.
"You need to progress, you need to keep hold of your best players and clearly I think Steven Gerrard has a major part to play in the future of Liverpool Football Club.
"I think he is perhaps unhappy at the way things have been moving along and there are signs maybe that he wasn't entirely happy with Rafa himself.
"You have to have Steven here and I think their only hope probably was to try and restructure a change with a new name at the top to try and make Steven commit.
"I think he wants to be a Liverpool player for the future but I think he has to be clear in the ways Liverpool are moving forwards."
Limbo
Liverpool owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett are looking to sell the club and Fairclough feels it is important that new investors are found.
And while the departure of Benitez may put Liverpool in a short-term "limbo", Fairclough suggested that a change of manager may actually make Liverpool more attractive to potential new buyers.
"It does put them in a sort of limbo I suppose," Fairclough added.
"But I do think there are a couple of people out there who are looking at Liverpool. Whether or not the valuation is realistic enough remains to be seen and a judgement will be taken on that in due course.
"But I think some stability on the future of players and some improvement in the general feel of the club may entice a change of mind from new perspective owners.
"Changes needed to be made, so maybe the manager going isn't entirely a bad decision."
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