Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez remains confident his side can secure Champions League qualification but accepts he is relying on their rivals making mistakes.
Sunday's 2-1 defeat against Manchester United at Old Trafford - their 10th in the league this season - saw the Reds drop to sixth, four points behind fourth-placed Tottenham.
With Manchester City, in fifth, and seventh-placed Aston Villa both having two matches in hand Liverpool's task is becoming increasingly difficult.
They have seven matches to save their season and Benitez knows they realistically have to win them all.
If they were to do that they would finish the season with 72 points, which was more than enough for Arsenal to clinch fourth last season as they finished nine points clear of Everton.
Of those remaining games, Birmingham away and Chelsea at home present the most difficult challenges.
Tottenham, by contrast, have to play Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United in successive matches with a trip to Manchester City on the penultimate weekend of the season.
City also have to face United and Arsenal in successive weeks, while Villa - currently a point behind Liverpool - have Chelsea, City, Everton and a derby against Birmingham among their fixtures.
"We knew the game against United would be very tough. The question is now about the other teams," said Benitez.
"Tottenham won at the weekend but we have to keep going. We know they have to make mistakes and we have to keep winning games to reduce the gap and be there.
"There are still a lot of points to be played for so we have to keep going. If we can win our games we will be there at the end.
"As a manager you have to believe. It will be more difficult but we have to keep pushing and I think we can do it.
"This year is a difficult year with too many things against but still we have to keep fighting and I am confident the team will be ready for the next game against Sunderland (on Sunday)."
The defeat at Old Trafford came at the end of a week in which Liverpool had beaten Portsmouth 4-1 and then seen off Lille 3-0 in the Europa League.
And although losing to their arch-rivals was disappointing, Benitez insisted it was not as damaging as some were making out.
"The team was doing well last week, playing well and scoring a lot of goals," he said.
"You could see they started well against United. If you go there and don't perform or don't show character or are not strong enough that is not good.
"But we showed we can beat anyone if we play well and if we have some chances we have to take them and it could have been totally different.
"The team was not fantastic but it was not worse than United. You couldn't see the difference in the table out on the pitch.
"I don't think it is a set-back."
Despite the need to put together an unbroken winning run between now and the end of the season the inherently cautious Benitez is not prepared to go for all-out attack.
The form - and demeanour - of captain Steven Gerrard is a concern but it would be unthinkable that the England international would be dropped at a time when confidence is so fragile.
That means £17million midfielder Alberto Aquilani, in spite of his man-of-the-match display against Portsmouth, is destined to only play a bit-part role as the campaign nears its conclusion.
"Sometimes you have to attack but sometimes you have to be careful and defend," said Benitez.
"I don't think we were defending too much [at Old Trafford]. I think we were doing a good job and we were trying to go forward.
"But you have to create more if you want to be sure [of victory].
"Some games you have one chance and you score and in this case we were disappointed because how many chances did they have? How many saves did Pepe (Reina) make? One or two?
"We were trying to get the second goal against United and if you analyse the people we had on the pitch Kuyt is a striker, Maxi Rodriguez can keep the ball well, and we had Gerrard and Fernando Torres.
"After that we put on Ryan, Yossi and Aquilani, who are offensive players, but we were playing against a good team."
Sunday's 2-1 defeat against Manchester United at Old Trafford - their 10th in the league this season - saw the Reds drop to sixth, four points behind fourth-placed Tottenham.
With Manchester City, in fifth, and seventh-placed Aston Villa both having two matches in hand Liverpool's task is becoming increasingly difficult.
They have seven matches to save their season and Benitez knows they realistically have to win them all.
If they were to do that they would finish the season with 72 points, which was more than enough for Arsenal to clinch fourth last season as they finished nine points clear of Everton.
Of those remaining games, Birmingham away and Chelsea at home present the most difficult challenges.
Tottenham, by contrast, have to play Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United in successive matches with a trip to Manchester City on the penultimate weekend of the season.
City also have to face United and Arsenal in successive weeks, while Villa - currently a point behind Liverpool - have Chelsea, City, Everton and a derby against Birmingham among their fixtures.
"We knew the game against United would be very tough. The question is now about the other teams," said Benitez.
"Tottenham won at the weekend but we have to keep going. We know they have to make mistakes and we have to keep winning games to reduce the gap and be there.
"There are still a lot of points to be played for so we have to keep going. If we can win our games we will be there at the end.
"As a manager you have to believe. It will be more difficult but we have to keep pushing and I think we can do it.
"This year is a difficult year with too many things against but still we have to keep fighting and I am confident the team will be ready for the next game against Sunderland (on Sunday)."
The defeat at Old Trafford came at the end of a week in which Liverpool had beaten Portsmouth 4-1 and then seen off Lille 3-0 in the Europa League.
And although losing to their arch-rivals was disappointing, Benitez insisted it was not as damaging as some were making out.
"The team was doing well last week, playing well and scoring a lot of goals," he said.
"You could see they started well against United. If you go there and don't perform or don't show character or are not strong enough that is not good.
"But we showed we can beat anyone if we play well and if we have some chances we have to take them and it could have been totally different.
"The team was not fantastic but it was not worse than United. You couldn't see the difference in the table out on the pitch.
"I don't think it is a set-back."
Despite the need to put together an unbroken winning run between now and the end of the season the inherently cautious Benitez is not prepared to go for all-out attack.
The form - and demeanour - of captain Steven Gerrard is a concern but it would be unthinkable that the England international would be dropped at a time when confidence is so fragile.
That means £17million midfielder Alberto Aquilani, in spite of his man-of-the-match display against Portsmouth, is destined to only play a bit-part role as the campaign nears its conclusion.
"Sometimes you have to attack but sometimes you have to be careful and defend," said Benitez.
"I don't think we were defending too much [at Old Trafford]. I think we were doing a good job and we were trying to go forward.
"But you have to create more if you want to be sure [of victory].
"Some games you have one chance and you score and in this case we were disappointed because how many chances did they have? How many saves did Pepe (Reina) make? One or two?
"We were trying to get the second goal against United and if you analyse the people we had on the pitch Kuyt is a striker, Maxi Rodriguez can keep the ball well, and we had Gerrard and Fernando Torres.
"After that we put on Ryan, Yossi and Aquilani, who are offensive players, but we were playing against a good team."
No comments:
Post a Comment