Benitez Irked By Fergie's Ref Tactics

Rafael Benitez has accused Sir Alex Ferguson of attempting to manipulate referee Steve Bennett ahead of Liverpool's trip to Manchester United on Sunday.

United boss Ferguson has repeatedly called for star player Cristiano Ronaldo to receive more protection from officials in the days leading up to this weekend's match.

The Scot insists he fears the Portugal winger will be driven out of the Barclays Premier League by the type of rough treatment Ferguson claims he witnessed in the recent FA Cup defeat to Portsmouth.

But Liverpool manager Benitez believes his opposite number is simply playing mind games.

"Ferguson is clever, that is clear," Benitez said. "After a difficult game, he was talking about referees and before an important game (against Liverpool) he is talking about protecting Ronaldo.

"The referees, though, have experience and they will know Ferguson. This kind of treatment must be the same for all the teams and all the players.

"I wasn't surprised last week to hear what he was saying. I just want to go into the game with the same situation as the other team."

Benitez is confident Bennett, who is due to officiate at Old Trafford on Sunday, will not be influenced by Ferguson.

"I think the referee has experience and is strong enough so I don't see it being a problem," said the Spaniard, who believes his own players deserve just as much protection as Ronaldo.

"Ferguson is very clever and has a lot of experience.

"I don't know what he was thinking about exactly, but if you need to protect Ronaldo, you also need to protect (Fernando) Torres and (Steven) Gerrard and all the skilful players in the league."

Meanwhile, Spanish defender Alvaro Arbeloa believes Liverpool's two Champions League victories over Inter Milan - in particular the triumph in the San Siro - gives them the confidence to produce a shock win at Manchester United.

Old Trafford is not a happy hunting ground for Benitez, who has never achieved a win there as manager.

His league record against United is six defeats and a draw, and his only success over the Red Devils was a 1-0 win in the FA Cup, two years ago.

But Arbeloa feels Liverpool's confidence is growing after seven successive victories.

He said: "We have won in the San Siro, so why not at Old Trafford? We are confident in ourselves and maybe things have improved in that respect for us.

"The two wins over Inter Milan have helped us, beforehand we were not playing consistently.

"And now we have Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard scoring in virtually every game, and that has given us all a boost."

The 25 year-old understands the importance of the game - the 150th top flight meeting between the two sides - to the fans.

He said: "Derby matches are the same the world over, in Spain and Italy, too. It is important for everyone, but more so for the fans.

"It seems more important for them than it is for us, but we know how important it is to win, no doubt.

"We have our big players happy and in form, that means we are all confident in such matches as derbies.

"We know we have to fight for every ball, these sort of games are that bit different."