By half past two this afternoon, either Liverpool’s Premier League dream will be over or they will have been handed an unlikely lifeline.
Manchester United need just a point from their lunchtime clash with Arsenal to equal the Reds’ record of 18 league titles.
Arrangements have been made to present the trophy at Old Trafford today but Rafa Benitez wasn’t prepared to throw the towel in yesterday.
The Spaniard believes the Gunners are capable of doing Liverpool a favour and ensuring there is something still riding on tomorrow’s trip to relegation-threatened West Brom.
“We have to think positively,” Benitez insisted.
“Arsenal are a good team with quality and after the defeats they have had in the last two games they have something to prove.
“Arsene Wenger is a winner and he will want to get a result. It could be a tough game for United.
“Hopefully we will still have a chance on Sunday. If the title race is still on we will fight for that, otherwise we will fight for second place.
“All we can do is think about getting three points in our game.”
If United wrap things up today the Reds will be consigned to a third successive trophyless campaign.
However, Benitez insists his players should be proud of the progress made at Anfield this season. Victory at The Hawthorns tomorrow would secure their best ever points return in the Premier League.
“It’s always important to have targets,” he said.
“We have 80 points and 82 is our best total in history. To get 83 would be fantastic but 86 would be even better.
“We have to be really pleased to be in this position at this stage of the season.
“We are playing well, scoring lots of goals and that is really positive for the future.
“Some people talk about trophies but in the Premier League it is not easy.
“There is Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal. In the future maybe Manchester City, Tottenham, Aston Villa will be challenging.
“It’s not easy but to be contenders is the key. If you are 20 points behind you have no chance but this year we are so close and that’s good news for the future.
“Before people talked about us as a team for the Cup or the Champions League, now we’ve shown we’re a team for the Premier League.
“Now we have to wait and see what happens at Old Trafford. Hopefully Arsenal will do the right things for us.
“If not we have to look to improve for next season, while keeping the same mentality and confidence.”
Benitez insists the fact that Liverpool have kept up their pursuit of United until this stage of the season is an achievement in itself considering the financial gulf between the two clubs.
“United are in this position because they have won more games than us and been more consistent,” he said.
“You can analyse and look at how they have won a lot of games 1-0 but the fact is the better team will be the one at the end with the most points.
“When you talk about United you are talking about a top side who have been spending big money on a lot of top class players. That’s the main difference between them and the other teams.
“They can make mistakes and they can change players without anyone noticing.
“If you remember our game against them they had Giggs, Scholes and Berbatov on the bench.
“We cannot do things like this. We have to have Gerrard and Torres out there all the time.
“They can play Berbatov, Rooney, Ronaldo or Tevez. That means big money and that’s because they have 75,000 fans in their stadium every week.
“There is a massive difference in the money they have got but on the pitch we are reducing the gap. We’ve made progress and clearly have to be really proud of the team’s performance this season.
“We have to be positive but it doesn’t mean next year will be easier. Every year is different and in the summer we have to ensure we do the right things.
“We will need to bring in new players to keep up the competition for places.”
If Liverpool’s title push does fall short Benitez knows critics will point to the home draws against the likes of Stoke, Hull, West Ham and Fulham.
“I agree maybe they cost us but in some of these games we had maybe 20 or 25 attempts on goal and their keeper was man of the match,” he added.
“We just didn’t take our chances and we had bad luck.
“Against Stoke we had an early goal disallowed and that could have made a massive difference.
“In the home games against Newcastle and Blackburn we scored in the first half and then those games were easy.
“The fact is are in the position we deserve to be.”
Manchester United need just a point from their lunchtime clash with Arsenal to equal the Reds’ record of 18 league titles.
Arrangements have been made to present the trophy at Old Trafford today but Rafa Benitez wasn’t prepared to throw the towel in yesterday.
The Spaniard believes the Gunners are capable of doing Liverpool a favour and ensuring there is something still riding on tomorrow’s trip to relegation-threatened West Brom.
“We have to think positively,” Benitez insisted.
“Arsenal are a good team with quality and after the defeats they have had in the last two games they have something to prove.
“Arsene Wenger is a winner and he will want to get a result. It could be a tough game for United.
“Hopefully we will still have a chance on Sunday. If the title race is still on we will fight for that, otherwise we will fight for second place.
“All we can do is think about getting three points in our game.”
If United wrap things up today the Reds will be consigned to a third successive trophyless campaign.
However, Benitez insists his players should be proud of the progress made at Anfield this season. Victory at The Hawthorns tomorrow would secure their best ever points return in the Premier League.
“It’s always important to have targets,” he said.
“We have 80 points and 82 is our best total in history. To get 83 would be fantastic but 86 would be even better.
“We have to be really pleased to be in this position at this stage of the season.
“We are playing well, scoring lots of goals and that is really positive for the future.
“Some people talk about trophies but in the Premier League it is not easy.
“There is Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal. In the future maybe Manchester City, Tottenham, Aston Villa will be challenging.
“It’s not easy but to be contenders is the key. If you are 20 points behind you have no chance but this year we are so close and that’s good news for the future.
“Before people talked about us as a team for the Cup or the Champions League, now we’ve shown we’re a team for the Premier League.
“Now we have to wait and see what happens at Old Trafford. Hopefully Arsenal will do the right things for us.
“If not we have to look to improve for next season, while keeping the same mentality and confidence.”
Benitez insists the fact that Liverpool have kept up their pursuit of United until this stage of the season is an achievement in itself considering the financial gulf between the two clubs.
“United are in this position because they have won more games than us and been more consistent,” he said.
“You can analyse and look at how they have won a lot of games 1-0 but the fact is the better team will be the one at the end with the most points.
“When you talk about United you are talking about a top side who have been spending big money on a lot of top class players. That’s the main difference between them and the other teams.
“They can make mistakes and they can change players without anyone noticing.
“If you remember our game against them they had Giggs, Scholes and Berbatov on the bench.
“We cannot do things like this. We have to have Gerrard and Torres out there all the time.
“They can play Berbatov, Rooney, Ronaldo or Tevez. That means big money and that’s because they have 75,000 fans in their stadium every week.
“There is a massive difference in the money they have got but on the pitch we are reducing the gap. We’ve made progress and clearly have to be really proud of the team’s performance this season.
“We have to be positive but it doesn’t mean next year will be easier. Every year is different and in the summer we have to ensure we do the right things.
“We will need to bring in new players to keep up the competition for places.”
If Liverpool’s title push does fall short Benitez knows critics will point to the home draws against the likes of Stoke, Hull, West Ham and Fulham.
“I agree maybe they cost us but in some of these games we had maybe 20 or 25 attempts on goal and their keeper was man of the match,” he added.
“We just didn’t take our chances and we had bad luck.
“Against Stoke we had an early goal disallowed and that could have made a massive difference.
“In the home games against Newcastle and Blackburn we scored in the first half and then those games were easy.
“The fact is are in the position we deserve to be.”
No comments:
Post a Comment