Tuesday, January 06, 2009

Benitez: FA Cup Derby Clash Won’t Distract Liverpool FC From Title Bid

RAFAEL BENITEZ is confident Liverpool will not be detracted from their quest for the Premier League crown by the forthcoming FA Cup derby against Everton.

The Merseyside rivals will meet in the competition for the first time in 18 years after being paired together in the fourth round.

The game, which is due to take place on either January 24 or 25 at Anfield, comes in the middle of a critical run of league games for the Premier League leaders.

Liverpool are already hosting Everton in the league on Monday, January 19, before which they visit struggling Stoke City on Saturday.

They follow the Cup showdown with a trip to Wigan Athletic in midweek before the Reds entertain title rivals Chelsea.

And Benitez has moved to quell the growing excitement at the prospect of the FA Cup tie with their neighbours by insisting Liverpool are looking no further forward than the weekend clash at the Britannia Stadium.

“It is a draw which will excite everyone in the city because everyone knows about the great rivalry that exists between the two clubs,” said the Liverpool manager.

“But we must remember that we have some big games coming up in the league before the cup tie and we will be taking one game at a time.

“Only when the cup game comes around will it become our focus and before then we play Stoke and Everton in the league so we must keep our focus on those matches.

“But it is good to have so many important matches because it shows that your team is doing well.”

Everton defender Tony Hibbert believes the atmosphere for the Cup game will be “electric”, with the Goodison outfit expected to be handed their largest official ticket allocation at Anfield since the FA Cup fifth-round clash there in February 1991.

“To be first out of the hat was unbelievable,” said Hibbert. “It’s a great draw for the city but probably not one that either team would have wanted at this stage of the competition.

“The atmosphere in derby games is electric at the best of times but this will be something else again and we are all looking forward to it.

“The FA Cup is something we have grown up with and all the lads here would love to get into a final but there is a long, long way to go yet before we can think about that.”

Everton earned progress to the fourth round for the first time in three years with a 1-0 win at League Two outfit Macclesfield Town.

And Hibbert added: “It’s never easy going to those places. The pitch in places was very icy and hard, which made it even more difficult, but I thought the lads did a brilliant job coping with it.

“The performance was good but we didn’t make it easy for ourselves by missing a few chances and that’s something we will have to improve on.

“But the main thing was getting the win and getting through to the next round. We really wanted to put a show on for the fans and we should have done that with the chances we created.”

Meanwhile, Liverpool’s assistant boss Sammy Lee hailed skipper Steven Gerrard as a “top professional”.

Gerrard, who was charged with assault and affray after an incident at a bar in Southport, fully justified Benitez’s decision to play him against Preston on Saturday with a commanding performance in the 2-0 win, which set up the clash with Everton.

Lee said: “Steven is a great footballer and he produced a terrific performance. Things have been written about him, but we know that he is a top professional.”

Albert Riera’s first-half strike put the Reds in the driving seat before Gerrard unselfishly squared for substitute Fernando Torres to make it 2-0 late on.

“That second goal sums up this football club,” Lee said.

“Whoever scores is not important. It’s all about the team and that goal epitomised our team spirit.”

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