Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce has taken a swipe at Rafael Benitez by claiming that the Liverpool manager loves to "whinge and moan".
Having clashed with the Spaniard during his tenure at Bolton, the Blackburn manager is now intent on ruffling Benitez and his side again when Rovers travel to Anfield in the Premier League on Saturday lunchtime.
"Bolton always used to batter them at the Reebok but we were never capable of reproducing that form at Anfield," Allardyce told The Sun.
"But you can't help him whingeing and moaning, can you? He loves it.
"It's great when a manager moans about the way my teams play, though.
"Irrespective of what label they might give me, if I can beat Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United home or away, then I am a major tactician and a very good manager.
On Benitez's feud with Sir Alex Ferguson, Allardyce had this to say: "You'd be foolish taking on Sir Alex because he knows every trick in the book.
"I've managed to psyche out a few managers in my time but nobody has ever psyched me out."
However, Allardyce, who was at Anfield on Wednesday night to see the Reds beaten in the Champions League, has defended Benitez's use of a zonal-marking system after Chelsea scored two of their three goals from corners.
"I went to watch what was probably the most in-form team in this country at the moment come a little unstuck on the night," said Allardyce.
"We can only hope that that knocks their confidence a little bit.
"It can happen to us all on occasions, but Chelsea got the tactics right and also used their outstanding ability to punish them very heavily in the end.
"I just want to get as many of my experienced players as fit as possible to go and pick a side who can combat a very good Liverpool team, and then try and expose one or two weaknesses that were shown up.
"But I thought there was a little of unfair criticism of the zonal marking system, because I don't think any system would have stopped those two goals on the night."
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