Match Report: Tottenham 2 - 1 Liverpool

Tottenham repeated their victory over Liverpool from last season as Sebastien Bassong clinched a 2-1 win.

Liverpool have been tipped to finally end their long wait for a title this term but they were unable to come away from White Hart Lane with even a single point as Spurs came out on top in an entertaining encounter.

Both sides struggled for fluency in the early stages but Tottenham settled towards the end of the first half and carved out a succession of good chances, with Robbie Keane twice denied by Pepe Reina as he looked to score against his former club.

The deadlock was then broken in sensational style just before the break as Benoit Assou-Ekotto struck a ferocious effort into the top corner from just outside the box that left Reina with no chance.

Spurs started the second half strongly as well but conceded an equaliser when the marauding Glen Johnson was brought down by Heurelho Gomes in the 56th minute and Steven Gerrard smashed home the penalty.

Tottenham shrugged off the disappointment to quickly restore their lead through Bassong's header and Liverpool could not force an equaliser as referee Phil Dowd turned away a late penalty appeal from Andriy Voronin

Japanese International Keisuke Honda Rules Out Liverpool Move

Japanese international Keisuke Honda is the absolute star player at Eredivisie side VVV at the moment, and his outstanding performances for the Dutch side haven't gone unnoticed by the rest of Europe.

The attacking midfielder is continually being linked with a number of clubs, with Wolfsburg, Liverpool, Ajax and PSV all reportedly interested in signing Honda.

However, the youngster has now made it clear that he is not yet ready to leave VVV for a move abroad, thus excluding Liverpool and Wolfsburg as his possible new destination.

"I'm extremely happy with life in the Netherlands. The people are friendly and it's nice and quiet over here. Therefore, I'm not leaving Holland for a club abroad," Honda quoted as saying by Eredivisie Live.

VVV aren't reluctant to let go of their star player, but have set a hefty €10 million asking price for the 23-year-old. The Venlo side's financial demands will probably prove to be too much for PSV and Ajax, meaning that Honda could stay at VVV after all.

Steven Gerrard Admits He Is ‘Desperate’ To Win Premier League With Liverpool

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has revealed that he is desperate to claim the league title with the Reds and has insisted that finishing top of the pile would mean the world to him.

“I'm desperate to get that photo of me with my teammates holding the Premier League trophy,” he told the News of the World.

“It does play on my mind how many years I've left to win it. I've turned 29 now, so I know time isn't on my side, but it's important I don't get obsessed by it.”

Rafael Benitez’s side will be hoping to build on last season’s second place finish and their skipper revealed what it would mean to him and the city of Liverpool to end the season as champions.

“You have to go into every new season prepared to do all you can to make it happen and I genuinely believe we can do it. This city would absolutely erupt if we did,” he explained.

“But because of the gap since we last won the title, if we achieve it, it would be bigger than the Champions League. Everyone at the club knows that and that's one of the incentives for doing everything to win it because we've seen what that kind of success means to the fans, and the players.

“It will just mean the world to me to win it at Liverpool. Moving to a different club and winning the league just doesn't enter my mind. I won't give up on it at Anfield.”

Although the Reds have lost Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid this summer, Gerrard is still confident they can challenge and insisted his side is very strong ahead of the new season.

“I honestly don't see a lot more changes being needed to the side, but we do have to find consistency from the first game. That showed last year when it was draws, not defeats which cost us,” he added.

"We are good enough to win it.

“Our keeper is the best in the world, defensively we're very solid and we've got matchwinners such as Fernando [Torres].”

Hertha Berlin Poised To Sign Liverpool’s Andriy Voronin For €3.5 Million

Liverpool striker Andriy Voronin is reportedly set to make his move to Bundesliga outfit Hertha Berlin permanent in a €3.5 million deal.

The Ukrainian spent last season on loan in Germany and enjoyed a successful spell, nettting 11 goals and finishing the season as the club’s top scorer.

Whilst Hertha were hopeful of making the signing permanent at the end of last season, talks broke down and the striker has since returned to Liverpool.

However, the News of the World reports that the German side have recently contacted the Reds and are now willing to match their €3.5 million valuation of Voronin.

The report also goes on to claim that Liverpool would be willing to cash in on Voronin, even though this would leave them with a possible lack of experienced striking options at Anfield.

The striker arrived on Merseyside from Bayer Leverkeusen in 2007 on a free transfer but failed to make much of an impact, thus leading to his loan spell at Hertha.

Liverpool Continue To Fail To Strike Right Balance In Bid To Win Premier League Title

What does it take to knock Sir Alex Ferguson off his perch? Only three men have managed that in 17 seasons: Kenny Dalglish once, Jose Mourinho twice and Arsene Wenger thrice.

Does Rafael Benitez have the capability to join that shortlist? Received wisdom dictates that defeating the belligerent Scot demands the mental fortitude to survive his campaign of psychological warfare.

Received wisdom also dictates that this is where Benitez failed last season, that his premeditated attack on Ferguson's influence over referees and the fixture list in January was an act of hubris followed immediately by the inevitable fall - in this case four straight draws.

Ferguson had got under his skin. The taunts came rolling down the stands: "Rafa's cracking up". Received wisdom is bunk. That Rafa's rant is the hinge on which Liverpool's season turned is a soap operatic way of telling the story: entertaining rubbish. Benitez was perhaps misguided – and, for the most part, inaccurate – when inducing his public spat but, Machiavellian to the marrow, he cannot stop himself. Benitez is hooked on intrigue, inside his club or out. He was trying to be political. The only surprising thing was its brazenness.

Did it mean his team lost all motivation to beat Stoke in their next game?

Did they suddenly think their manager had lost the plot? What if Steven Gerrard's two efforts that hit the woodwork in that game had been struck with marginally more accuracy? Had, perchance, the psychological turbulence affected the flight of the ball? It's all nonsense.

'Mind games' is a convenient catch-all. The only time Ferguson has psychologically crushed an opponent was in the 1995-96 season when his wind-ups reduced Kevin Keegan to tearful on-air humiliation. So it is no surprise that Benitez has said he we would take on Ferguson again this season, should he feel suitably provoked.

"If it's necessary for our club, for sure," he said. "If I have to defend my club I will do it. How to do that is something that you have to analyse in each situation and each situation will be different. I think that we are a top side and we have a history and we are very respectful of other teams and we try to manage in the same way and if we have to fight, we have to fight."

Benitez hardly looked cowed when his side went to Old Trafford in March and demolished Ferguson's team 4-1. The reason Benitez lost the title is boringly simple: they could not close out tight games. In the league, they only won three games 1-0; Manchester United won an astonishing nine by that score. United expected the winning goal to come – Liverpool did not.

Liverpool's edginess going forward is down to there not being enough attacking depth in the squad. When it came to the crunch, and he needed a change striker, a pinch hitter, he was forced to turn to the inexperienced David Ngog.

In many respects, Liverpool are well equipped for the new campaign. The core of the team has been retained and reinforced. Dan Agger and Dirk Kuyt have signed new contracts. Javier Mascherano's Catalan-induced wanderlust has been curbed and Benitez has indicated the club will shortly speak to him about a new deal. Most valuable of all has been Fernando Torres' contract extension, announced on Friday, which commits him to Anfield until 2014.

Doling out lucrative contracts is, of course, an expensive business. But while the recruitment of Glen Johnson and Alberto Aquilani is believed to have cost £34.5 million, some £35.5 million has been recouped by the sale of six players, including the sale of Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid. Which seems to put Benitez on a net transfer gain of £1 million for the summer.

At the end of last season Benitez said that United had 18-20 players of the same level, whereas at Liverpool he had only 15-18. Yet despite a summer in which he has effectively swapped Alvaro Arbeloa for Johnson and Alonso for Aquilani, he has declared himself satisfied with the numbers at his disposal.

"Maybe we need more experience in one position just in case but the squad is good. We're bringing in Andriy Voronin who is a player who can play between the lines and he has game intelligence and he proved in Germany that he's a good player.

"I think we have enough quality. We have players that maybe aren't so famous or weren't playing too many games in the Premier League. Players like Nabil El Zhar, Lucas, Emiliano Insua, Ryan Babel, they are growing and they have more experience in the Premier League."

Before last season, Benitez felt he needed a £20 million second striker to add subtlety to his attack, having sold a gangling target man who gave them a different attacking option.

In case you need reminding, Robbie Keane and Peter Crouch are in the Tottenham side on Sunday afternoon. If Benitez's change striker is really going to be Voronin then the same old frustrating problems will recur – barring Torres' hamstrings and Gerrard's groin developing miraculous durability.

Liverpool have the best starting XI in the country, and if they all stayed fit all season they would win the title. But the disparity with the second XI, especially in the attacking areas, is vast.

Imagine the various second strings competing in their own league: Liverpool's would struggle to get into the Europa League. And that, to use a memorable phrase, is a fact.

Where's the money?

According to Liverpool’s most recent accounts £21.7 million was injected into the club for transfers after July 2008. About £8m of this was spent on Albert Riera, but it is believed Rafa Benítez was promised £20m to spend when signing his new contract.

Liverpool’s sales since then total £47.5 m. Robbie Keane was returned to Tottenham for £12 m, Xabi Alonso and Alvaro Arbeloa went to Real Madrid for a combined £33.5m

Benítez has spent £17m up front on Alberto Aquilani and £17.5 million on Glen Johnson.

Contract renewals, agents’ fees and signing-on fees may account for part of the remainder, but simple math suggests Benítez should have around £25m more to spend.

His pursuit of Barry and Tevez suggests he thought he did before Tom Hicks and George Gillett agreed to pay back £60m of their £290m loan this year.

Javier Mascherano Has Put Barcelona Behind Him, Says Liverpool Manager Rafa Benitez

Rafael Benitez insists Javier Mascherano will shrug off the disappointment of his aborted move to Barcelona to help spearhead Liverpool's title challenge.

Liverpool begin their Premier League campaign against Tottenham on Sunday and Benitez is relieved to be able to call upon Argentina captain Mascherano for the match, having lost fellow midfield lynchpin Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid.

While Alonso was eventually granted his dream £30 million move to Spain, Mascherano was told he would not be leaving Anfield despite expressing his preference for a switch to Barcelona.

Benitez admits now that there were many times during a fraught summer, during which he believes Mascherano's head was turned by his international colleague Lionel Messi.

But with the player still having more than three years left on his contract, Benitez was in a position of strength when refusing to do business.

Speaking about the saga, Benitez said: "Javier has a very good friend in the national team and that is Messi.

"Messi was on to him every day and that is not easy, but Javier knows what we think of him and he will be okay."

Now that Mascherano has opted to stay, Benitez is expected to work out a new contract for the player, who had appeared to fall out of love with life in England in the light of Barca's interest.

Benitez added: "I talked with Javier, his agent and Barca. It is normal they see him as such a good player, and an option for them.

"We told Javier he was so important for us and we wanted to keep him. We were not talking about any price.

"He was a bit disappointed as it was a fantastic opportunity with a big club. But he is happy here, and as a player and a person you can trust him 100 per cent."

Benitez, meanwhile, believes as many as six teams could be challenging for the top four places this season, potentially disrupting the traditional order.

He said: "We can always talk about the top four, but Manchester City are doing a very good job and have bought some excellent players. I can understand why Mr. Ferguson at Manchester United is a little bit worried.

"Aston Villa and Tottenham have also spent some money, so there will five, six or more fighting now.

"But we have signed Glen Johnson and Alberto Aquilani, that is all, we are different.

"The important thing was to try and extend the contracts of key players. And that is what we did.

"We had 86 points last season to finish second, and we have more or less the same squad, so maybe we can do the same again or better.

"But we will need to improve at home, and Johnson as an attacking full-back is the sort of player who can make the difference in difficult home matches when opponents are defending.

"We have lost Sami Hyypia, he will be a big loss because he was a good player, but if Skrtel and Carragher are fit I thought we could manage.

"As for our title chances, the players know we were very close last season and they want to improve. We know what this team can achieve and they will be ready."

Liverpool's Rafa Benítez Confident He Can Manage Merseyside Expectations

Rafa Benítez's six years in English football can be measured by buzzwords. If his first two years were dominated by "rotation" and zonal marking, his fifth will be best remembered for his "facts".

There are the old stalwarts of "possibilities" and "game intelligence." To that list, add his leitmotif for the coming season: "managing expectations."

It seems a phrase straight from the corporate jargon handbook, equal parts meaningful and meaningless. On Merseyside, though, it makes sense. Benítez, a victim of his own success, suddenly finds himself with plenty of expectations to manage.

Last season brought with it Liverpool's first genuine title challenge for seven years. For the last three months of the campaign, they were unquestionably the best team in the country, destroying Manchester United, the eventual champions, at Old Trafford, and humiliating Real Madrid. That is the barometer by which they will be judged.

"We have to manage the expectations," said Benítez. "We know the situation. If you talk about the title, everybody is saying that we have to win it this season. But I don't think so. I don't feel any extra pressure because we haven't won anything for three seasons. We have to be realistic, we want to be in the top four and to be contenders.

"I was asked the same questions this time last year, and I said we wanted to be in a good position come January. We were, and we stayed in a good position all the way through to the end of the season. We have to have that same approach this season."

It is hardly the optimism Liverpool's fans, laden with hope after the rousing crescendo to their last campaign, wish to hear from their manager.

Benítez, though, has hardly had the sort of pre-season to inspire such a mood. His team have failed to impress, he has sold Xabi Alonso, the conductor of the attacking orchestra that swept all before them from March until the end of last season, and his replacement, Alberto Aquilani, will not be fit until October.

The club were boosted on Friday by the news that Fernando Torres has signed the new, £110,000-a-week contract he agreed in May, tying him to Anfield until 2014, but that, along with Steven Gerrard's acquittal on a charge of affray last month and the £17.5 million signing of Glen Johnson, has been a rare fillip in a summer tempered by doubt.

Benítez has not received the financial backing he perhaps expected when he signed his own new contract in March. His side look short of options in defence and attack, the spectre of injury to Torres or Gerrard still unthinkable. There has been no marquee capture to complement his strike duo, to turn the draws that cost Liverpool so dearly last season into wins.

Benítez has thus far stopped short of criticising the club's owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, for their failure to provide a budget of any sort beyond what he himself has raised from sales. It is clearly an issue he is not prepared to go to war on, at least not yet.

"You have to sign the players you need," he said. "To bring in a big, big name, you often have to change everything. There aren't many managers in the world happy with the amount they have to spend, but to me that just mean you have to work harder. It does not impact on my commitment at all."

Liverpool To Hand Unsettled Javier Mascherano Pay Rise

Liverpool are reportedly set to hand midfielder Javier Mascherano a pay rise, after refusing to allow him to leave Anfield this summer.

It was widely documented that the 25-year-old was keen on a move to Spain, and Barcelona in particular, but manager Rafael Benitez would not sanction a deal, largely because of the expected departure of Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid.

Whilst that deal did indeed go through, Mascherano remains on Merseyside and, speaking to the Sunday Express, the Liverpool boss admitted his player may be disappointed to miss out on the chance to move to the European champions.

“I had to talk to Javier a little bit. Barcelona is a top side, so if a club like Barcelona, who won three trophies in the last year, are interested it’s not easy for any player,” explained Benitez.

“But we knew from day one that we didn’t want to sell him. He’s an important player for us.”

The Spaniard also revealed that with the midfielder now back from international duty, talks could begin over a potential new deal.

“He has come home now, after playing for his national team, and we will talk,” he added.

“It’s important that he sits down now and we have time to talk.”

The Sunday Express speculates that Mascherano can expect a “substantial hike” on his £80,000-a-week wages, as the Reds attempt to placate their midfield man.

Brown Warns Reds Over Turner Chase

Hull boss Phil Brown has once again warned Liverpool counterpart Rafa Benitez to forget about landing Michael Turner on the cheap this month.

The Tigers were narrowly beaten 2-1 at Chelsea on Saturday and while Brown was disappointed to lose so late on, his more immediate task is hanging on to Turner and Andy Dawson before the transfer window closes at the end of the month.

Liverpool have already made one bid for the centre-half but Brown insists it remains nowhere near City's valuation.

The 25-year-old had an awesome battle with Drogba but won the Chelsea striker's respect with a glowing performance and while Brown is realistic when it comes to the prospect of keeping his top stars, he insists they won't be sold on the cheap.

"You do desperately try and hang on to your better players," said Brown. "People have classed the price tag on Michael Turner as ridiculous at £10 million. I think he is worth that to us, it might not be worth that to somebody else, but he is to us.

"As far as we are concerned that is how big a player he is for us. Michael played 38 games for us last year and never missed a minute. He is being courted by bigger clubs because of the way he can defend.

"Against Chelsea there was another example of that, but not just from him but also from Anthony Gardner and Dawson. But I thought it was a good collective, defensive performance from us against Chelsea."

Premier League Preview: Tottenham Hotspur vs Liverpool

If one thing is for certain as Tottenham Hotspur prepare to embark on another Premier League campaign, it is that they will be desperate to get off to a better start than they did last season.

Under Juande Ramos, the Lilywhites went winless for the first eight games of the season, resulting in the Spaniard’s departure and the subsequent appointment of Harry Redknapp.

The former Portsmouth boss turned things around markedly, leading the London club from the bottom of the table to the brink of Europa League qualification.

This season, after some significant changes to the squad throughout the summer, Redknapp and his men have the Champions League in their sights.

First and foremost, however, they are aiming to kick-start the new term with a bang, as they host a Liverpool side with serious title ambitions.

"It's such a big game for everyone, especially at this early stage of the season. The lads can't wait for it and we all feel it's a game we can win," Jermain Defoe told the press.

"We're at home, we know the fans will be right behind us and it's all about our belief. We want to make a good start and we're after the three points."

The Reds enter the 2009-10 season off the back of their finest domestic campaign in many moons, having finished four points behind champions Manchester United last term.

There can be no question that Rafael Benitez’s crew aim to lift the Premier League trophy come next May, but there are kinks in their consistency which will have to be ironed for that to occur.

Liverpool were supreme against their fellow title challengers, doing the double over both United and Chelsea, but they often struggled against the less fearsome teams in the division.

No better can this be demonstrated than by the fact that their first loss of the 2008-09 campaign came at White Hart Lane, against a Tottenham outfit who were then sat in the relegation zone.

It is there, in Spurs’ domain, that the Merseysiders begin their push for a long-awaited 19th league triumph, and Fernando Torres knows that anything but victory will be considered a failure.

"We have no problem beating Manchester United or Chelsea, but it is games like Sunday's at Tottenham where we need to show our real title intentions," the Spanish striker said recently.

"Tottenham is not an easy place to go, but these are games we must be winning if this is to finally be our year."


FORM GUIDE

Tottenham

Aug 9 Tottenham 3-0 Olympiacos (Friendly)
Aug 2 South China 2-0 Tottenham (Friendly)
Jul 31 Hull City 0-3 Tottenham (Friendly)
Jul 29 West Ham United 0-2 Tottenham (Friendly)
Jul 26 Tottenham 0-2 Celtic (Friendly)

Liverpool

Aug 8 Liverpool 1-2 Atletico Madrid (Friendly)
Aug 5 FC Lyn 0-2 Liverpool (Friendly)
Aug 2 Espanyol 3-0 Liverpool (Friendly)
Jul 26 Singapore 0-5 Liverpool (Friendly)
Jul 22 Thailand 1-1 Liverpool (Friendly)


TEAM NEWS

Tottenham

Spurs have the usual injury problems right from the off: Jonathan Woodgate is out with a groin problem, and Ledley King is a doubt with back pain.

As Michael Dawson is also yet to prove his fitness, new boy Sebastien Bassong is likely to start in defence.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the park, Peter Crouch – who spent three years on Liverpool’s books – could also make his Lilywhites debut, having moved from Portsmouth.

Possible Starting XI: Gomes; Corluka, Bassong, King, Assou-Ekotto; Lennon, Jenas, Palacios, Modric; Defoe, Crouch

Liverpool

With Daniel Agger out injured, the Merseysiders face a nervous wait over the status of Martin Skrtel and Jamie Carragher, but both are expected to be pronounced fit. Emiliano Insua will step in for the oft-sidelined Fabio Aurelio at left-back.

Of even more concern is Steven Gerrard, who missed England’s midweek friendly against the Netherlands with a groin complaint. The skipper is 50-50 at this stage.

Italian import Alberto Aquilani is recovering from a lingering ankle problem, leaving Lucas Leiva to fill the void in midfield following Xabi Alonso’s big-money move to Real Madrid.

Possible Starting XI: Reina; Johnson, Carragher, Skrtel, Insua; Mascherano, Lucas; Kuyt, Gerrard, Riera; Torres


PLAYERS TO WATCH

Tottenham

Just as his career at White Hart Lane seemed to have stalled, Aaron Lennon kicked into overdrive midway through last season to re-establish himself as one of the most exciting young talents in the Premier League. The England man could have an interesting tussle with inexperienced, yet similarly promising, Insua.

Liverpool

In what was otherwise a disappointing pre-season for the Reds, one man shone. Lucas Leiva has copped his fair share of flak since joining the club from Gremio in 2007, and now – with Alonso gone and Aquilani out – is the time for the young Brazilian to stake his claim for a regular berth in midfield.

Rafa Benitez: Liverpool FC Have Come A Long Way In Five Years

Liverpool have come a long way since Rafa Benitez last took his side to White Hart Lane on the opening day of the Premier League season.

August 14 2004 was the Spaniard’s first competitive domestic assignment in the Anfield hot-seat but he headed to the capital with Gerard Houllier’s team.

Josemi and Djibril Cisse were the only new faces but even the later had been bought by Houllier before he got the bullet.

Cisse’s first half strike was cancelled out by Jermain Defoe in a 1-1 draw but early promise failed to blossom as four league defeats by early October dashed any hopes of a title challenge.

Of course European glory ultimately made it a season to remember but in the league the Reds finished a distant fifth – losing 14 games and securing a haul of just 58 points.

Fast forward five years and only skipper Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher remain.

Slowly but surely, Benitez has compiled a squad capable of challenging for the Premier League crown.

With third, third, fourth and second placed finishes, Liverpool have closed the gap and now the challenge is to take the hardest step of all.

“I remember that first game very clearly and a lot has changed since then,” Benitez admitted.

“Clearly the club has been going in the right direction.

“You can see the value of the squad we had back then compared to the value of the squad we have now.

“Now we have more players with quality and experience. But we also have exciting young players who are improving all the time.”

Benitez knows his side will be hard pressed to beat last season’s remarkable haul of 86 points, which left them four points adrift of champions Manchester United.

Alvaro Arbeloa, Xabi Alonso and Sami Hyypia have departed with the boss’ summer spending limited to £17million right-back Glen Johnson and £20million midfielder Alberto Aquilani.

However, Benitez insists the Reds are better equipped for domestic glory this time around.

“By selling Arbeloa and Alonso and bringing in Johnson and Aquilani I believe we are more or less in the same position but with different kind of players,” he said.

“Johnson is an attacking full-back who will hopefully help us turn draws into wins. Aquilani is also more attacking than Alonso.

“One really important thing for me was extending the contracts of our key players.

“We got 86 points with more or less this squad. We know what this team can achieve.

“We can talk about players who have gone and who have just arrived but we have young players already here like Insua, Lucas, Babel, El Zhar, Ngog, who can improve and make a big difference.

“The players know we were very close last year and everyone wants to improve.

“Pre-season has been difficult with a lot of players coming back late but we will be ready to face Tottenham.”

Tomorrow will be the sixth successive campaign Liverpool have started on their travels and Benitez is looking for his side to continue where they left off last season.

After losing at Middlesbrough in late February the Reds won 10 and drew one of their last 11 league matches, scoring 34 goals in the process.

Rafa Benitez: Lack Of Funds Won't Shake Our Title Challenge

Rafael Benitez is ready to do battle with Sir Alex Ferguson once again after insisting his commitment to Liverpool has not been shaken by a lack of transfer funds.

Benitez’s side begins their quest for a record-breaking 19th championship when they open their Premier League season at Tottenham Hotspur tomorrow.

Liverpool were the nearest rivals to Manchester United last season only to fall short in stopping their bitter North West neighbours from moving alongside them on 18 titles.

The emergence of Liverpool as strong contenders caused a deterioration in the relationship between Benitez and Old Trafford counterpart Ferguson.

And the United manager has already began stoking the flames by claiming Chelsea are the main threat to his team securing a fourth successive Premier League crown this season.

But Benitez has warned Ferguson he wants to further test the boundaries of his patience by pushing United all the way once again.

“I would like to win every game, so we will see how it affects the relationship,” said the Liverpool manager. “I want to win. If our fans are happy then I’m happy.”

Asked if Ferguson was already up to his old tricks with the comment on Chelsea, Benitez added: “I have no idea. There are a lot of top sides that can be very, very strong.

“We can always talk about the top four, but Manchester City are doing a very good job and have bought some excellent players. They will be a big problem to us, but mainly to United, as they are their neighbours.

“I can understand why Mr. Ferguson at Manchester United is a little bit worried.”

Benitez’s efforts to overhaul United have been hampered by a tightening of the purse strings by Liverpool’s American owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

Close to £37million has been spent on Glen Johnson and Alberto Aquilani, but that has been recouped by the sales of Xabi Alonso, Alvaro Arbeloa, Sebastian Leto, Adam Hammill, Paul Anderson and Jack Hobbs.

But Benitez has dismissed the notion the lack of major funds has made him have second thoughts after signing a new five-year contract in March.

“I don’t know too many managers happy with the money that they have to spend,” said the Spaniard. “There are two or three clubs around the world that have big, big money, but the rest of the managers I am sure will ask for more money.

“It is not impacting on my commitment. Always when you have some difficult, you have to work harder.

“We were doing a good job with the options that we had. We are happy with the additions, and if they can settle down quickly I will be really pleased because the rest of the squad is more or less the same.”

Liverpool, who have lost only two of their last 27 opening league games, are being tipped by many this season to end a title drought that stretches back to 1990, with many supporters similarly expectant.

But Benitez said: “I don’t feel any extra pressure because we haven’t won anything for three seasons.

“We have to manage the expectations. We know the situation. If you talk about the title, everybody is saying that we have to win it this season. But I don’t think so. We have to be realistic, we want to be in the top four and to be contenders.

“I was being asked the same questions this time last year, and I said we wanted to be in a good position come January. We were, and we stayed in a good position all the way through to the end of the season.

“We have tried to manage expectations but it’s not easy when we finished with 86 points last season and came so close, and people will now be talking about 20 years since winning the league.

“But that is the situation now. We have to work with the players, have confidence in the youngsters and try to improve the squad.

“How will we know if we are right or not? After three or four games you will see more or less where we are, and also where the other teams are.”

Johnson will make his debut at White Hart Lane tomorrow, while Benitez is hopeful Jamie Carragher, Martin Skrtel and Steven Gerrard will all overcome their injury niggles.

Liverpool Will Win Premier League Title This Year - Alan Hansen

Liverpool's former captain Alan Hansen reckons this will be the year that the Reds finally reclaim the title.

"I believe that this will be Liverpool's year," Hansen told Liverpool's official website.

"Draws at home against lesser teams cost Liverpool last season, but I think manager Rafael Benitez has learned how to play against them," he added.

Hansen believes Benitez has developed his style of play into a more attacking, up-tempo approach.

"Instead of waiting to see what they will do, he has gone for what Liverpool fans expect, which is to try to hem these teams in and batter them.

"It was a style of play that started when they thrashed Real Madrid 4-0 in the Champions League and continued from there," he said.

"It was great to see, and I can see it bringing the title back to Anfield for the first time in 20 years this season."

On Liverpool's closest rivals, Hansen was dismissive.

"I actually do not see United winning the title this year," he said.

"Ronaldo just won too many games for them."

Liverpool's History Cannot Be Ignored - Alberto Aquilani

New Liverpool signing Alberto Aquilani has spoken of his admiration for the club's history, after getting a lesson from Roma director Bruno Conti.

Liverpool won the 1984 European Cup, defeating Roma on penalties when Conti sent his spot-kick over the cross-bar.

"You cannot ignore the huge past of this club," Aquilani told Sky Sports.

"I grew up in Rome and knew about the final between Roma and Liverpool. It was a game I became very much aware of," he continued.

"Bruno Conti talked to me a lot about it, especially his big mistake.

Aquilani was reluctant to leave his home town club, but said he was delighted to move to Liverpool. The Italian also revealed that he spoke with his team-mate John Arne Riise before making the move.

"I knew I would only leave Roma for a club such as Liverpool. I hope to do the shirt proud and help them win more honours.

"Riise spoke highly of Rafael Benitez and said he would help me grow," Aquilani added.

"I am aware of the pressure the club is under and I will be under. But if you want to play for a big club, you have to handle the pressure."

The Italian said that he is eager to taste the atmosphere at Anfield.

"I have heard a lot about the unique atmosphere at Anfield, the Kop and the great fans. I am looking forward to getting fit and making my debut."

Aquilani is also hoping to cement a place in the Italy squad for the World Cup in South Africa in the summer.

"Going to the World Cup is a big objective for me, but in order to do that, I need to do well with Liverpool," he said.

"I spoke to Marcello Lippi before coming to England and he reassured me it will not be a problem."

Rafael Benítez Plans To End Liverpool's Long Wait For The Title By Going For Broke

A manager must build expectations but it is revealing how Rafael Benítez already speaks of "managing" them. The financial sands have shifted under the Spaniard this summer and yet, after five years of gradual and occasionally fraught progress, he knows the anticipation is that his building work is nearing completion at Liverpool. He cannot promise the club's first league title since 1990 but nor does he deny, to use a favoured word, its possibility.

Title predictions are peculiar this year given the leading contenders are judged not on how they have improved but how much they have weakened. On this score Benítez encourages Anfield's optimists with the assessment that his Liverpool squad is equal to that which finished second and four points behind Manchester United last season. And this despite the loss of Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid and the influential midfielder's replacement, Alberto Aquilani, being at least a month away from his Premier League debut due to ankle surgery.

In Aquilani, Benítez believes he has located one of the keys to improvement. The final step has proven the hardest for every Anfield manager since Kenny Dalglish left the club in 1991, and Benítez is confident the £20m Italian can remedy the seven home draws that, along with repeated hamstring injuries to Fernando Torres, cost Liverpool the title last season. More adventurous than Alonso, the former Roma playmaker has been designated a role in support of Steven Gerrard this term, leaving Javier Mascherano as the lone holding midfielder at home, with his goals and swift, incisive passing removing the handbrake from those teams intent on parking the bus. That is the theory at least.

Liverpool will stretch those same rigid defences to a greater degree with Glen Johnson raiding from right-back. Benítez has never been sold on the value of an out-and-out winger but the England international, while needing to improve defensively, can provide the width Liverpool have sorely lacked on occasion. So far, so encouraging for a team that added a swagger to its consistency as last season progressed and fielded Gerrard with Torres only 14 times in the league due to injury.

"If you analyse the two players we have signed, they are players with quality," Benítez insists. "We needed a little bit more quality at right-back and we got Johnson. Trying to find that extra quality is difficult. [Andriy] Voronin has come back and has done really well in pre-season and did really well at Hertha Berlin last season. Yes, we have lost something with Alonso, but we couldn't stop him from going. We have tried to manage that loss and have brought someone in, Aquilani, who we feel can help us win the games that we were drawing at home last season. Aquilani, Voronin and Johnson are three players with game intelligence and quality going forward that can all help in that manner."

Hold on. Voronin? Benítez is looking to Voronin to help Liverpool erase 20 years of desperation in May next May? Here is where concerns over Liverpool's title credentials surface. This scepticism is not a criticism of Voronin directly. He did, after all, score 11 goals in 23 games on loan with Hertha last season and would have signed permanently had they qualified for the Champions League. But if the answer is Voronin, who scored five league goals for Liverpool before being shipped back to Germany, then the question is what happened to the £20m Benítez was promised on top of the money he raised through player sales this summer?

The Liverpool manager had David Silva of Valencia in mind as the calibre of player who could improve his team's penetration. Now he is reliant on the reinvention of the 30-year-old Ukrainian or the penny finally dropping with Ryan Babel. Benítez's budget has been revised and is understood to have had to incorporate the lucrative contracts awarded this summer to Gerrard and Torres, who put pen to paper on a £110,000-a-week, four-year deal with the option of a fifth year yesterday. They are worth every penny, but strength in depth could prove a fundamental weakness at Anfield unless funds are forthcoming in the final weeks of the transfer window.

Benítez has resisted entering into another divisive confrontation with the Liverpool owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett over finance, but it is no surprise he enters the new campaign with characteristic caution. "I don't feel any extra pressure because we haven't won anything for three seasons. We have to manage the expectations," he said ahead of tomorrow's opener at Tottenham Hotspur.

"We know the situation. If you talk about the title, everybody is saying we have to win it [the title] this season. But I don't think so. We have to be realistic, we want to be in the top four and to be contenders. I was asked the same questions this time last year and I said we wanted to be in a good position come January. We were, and we stayed in a good position all the way through to the end of the season. We have to have that same approach this season, taking it one game at a time and seeing where we are at the end of each week. People will say I'm always saying the same thing, but it has to be like this."

John Aldridge: Liverpool FC Need More Options In Attack

Having come so close last season, we all desperately hope this is the year when Liverpool finally clinch the Premier League title.

It’s been a mixed summer with a couple of big signings but a few key players moving on.

We’ve lost Alvaro Arbeloa and Xabi Alonso but gained Glen Johnson and Alberto Aquilani so I would say the squad is about as strong as the one we had last season.

I’ve seen Aquilani play a few times and there’s no doubt he’s a very talented player.

The concern is we don’t know how long he is going to be out injured.

And we also don’t know how long he will take to adapt to the demands of the Premier League.

I was disappointed to see Arbeloa go and I thought £3.5m for him was a great bit of business for Real Madrid but Johnson is undoubtedly a better attacking full-back.

I would still like to see Rafa strengthen our attacking options by either signing a striker or a wide player.

Andriy Voronin has come back from a year on loan at Hertha Berlin but I can’t see him making much of an impression. I hope he can prove us all wrong but I doubt it.

The options up front are limited and the fear is we’re still short of one top quality player.

The worrying thing is it looks like the money has run out and that’s unbelievable considering how much Rafa Benitez has brought in by selling players.

Before the Americans arrived the manager would always have £20m to £25m to spend each summer plus whatever he could raise from sales.

Whether what’s happened this summer is a sign of how difficult things are behind the scenes I don’t know.

Our first XI is still as strong as any in the Premier League.

But we just have to hope and pray everyone stays fit because our second string is probably the poorest out of all the clubs in the top four.

Even Spurs probably have more in reserve than we have.

If we keep everyone fit then we will challenge but my fear is that if we have to rely on fringe players then we will struggle.

The first target has to be to get through to the international break at the start of September unscathed.

The Reds have got to be looking for 10 points out of 12.

Liverpool couldn’t have been handed a much tougher opener than a trip to Tottenham.

Harry Redknapp has done a great job and turned things around since taking over from Juande Ramos.

He has made some great buys and I’ve got no doubt Spurs are going to be one of those clubs, along with Manchester City, fighting to get into the top four this season.

Spurs have certainly got plenty of firepower. Robbie Keane and Peter Crouch will be desperate to do well against their old club, while Jermain Defoe will be flying after his two goals for England in midweek.

Defoe was excellent against Holland and the Reds will have to keep a close eye on him.

Of course we lost 2-1 at White Hart Lane last November but that was one of our best away performances of the season.

We battered them but missed so many chances and ending up paying the price.

If we can reproduce that display and be more clinical then I’m confident we’ll be celebrating a great start to the campaign.

Rafa In Milner Bid

Liverpool have made a cheeky enquiry about Aston Villa's young star James Milner.

Anfield boss Rafa Benitez is a big admirer of the emerging England winger but has received little in the way of encouragement.

Milner cost Villa £12million from Newcastle last August and has three years left on his contract.

And Villa manager Martin O'Neill has no intention of selling one of his prize assets.

Milner, 23, made his debut for the full England side against Holland on Wednesday and set up one of Jermain Defoe's two goals in the 2-2 draw.

Liverpool Youngster Mikel San Jose Sent On Loan To Athletic Bilbao

According to a report in The Daily Mail, young Liverpool centre-back Mikel San Jose has been loaned out to Spanish club Athletic Bilbao on a one-season basis in order to gain some experience.

The 20-year-old defender has spent two years at Merseyside playing for the reserves, but has not made a competitive appearance for the club yet.

The promising Spaniard has now been sent to his home country in order to ply his trade with los Leones, the club of his youth.

San Jose was a part of the Spain Under-19 squad that won the UEFA European U-19 Football Championship in 2007, and was an unused substitute when the Reds played Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last season.

Liverpool FC Boss Happy To Put His Cards On The Table

As a connoisseur of tactical intricacy, it was simply too good an opportunity to miss for Rafael Benitez. When pressed by the gathered media to explain whether the signing of Alberto Aquilani would mean any change in Liverpool’s playing style, the Anfield manager assumed centre stage.

With dictaphones substituting for midfielders and a table top replicating the playing field, what followed was an entertaining, in-depth demonstration of how the Italian would fit into the grand scheme.

Besides illustrating Benitez’s love of a good prop or two, it underlined the versatility of Aquilani and how his manager is already plotting on getting the best out of his £20m acquisition.

“Alberto is a player who has quality, game intelligence and can pass the ball quickly,” says Benitez. “He can play more offensive than Alonso did in the final third, and he has more accuracy in his final pass.

“He can score goals from distance too, but he can also drop back and play alongside Mascherano and Lucas because he is a hard worker.

“It could be that we use a different system a bit, depending on Alberto’s characteristics. We will have different options of how to play going forward.

“We have Mascherano and Lucas both playing really well, with Gerrard in front. He can play instead of any of them.

“He can play as second striker if necessary, but his best position will be between Gerrard and Mascherano – or between Lucas and Gerrard.”

Of course, with Aquilani still recovering from a summer ankle operation, Liverpool supporters will have to wait a while before getting a glimpse of the new arrival.

Signing a player with an injury was frowned upon by many, but Benitez has reiterated he is not taking a gamble on the Italy international.

“With the problems he has had, especially the ankle, we had to check everything,” says the Liverpool manager. “The medical staff did their job and they feel we can manage right now.

“The most important thing is the ankle, he had an operation on it, so we are working on that. But in the meantime we are working on the other things too and he can get better.

“We’ve signed players who have had problems in the past, but only because the medical staff have been confident they will be okay.

“It’s difficult to say when he will be able to play. He’s been working hard from the first day on Monday, but we think he should be back between one and two months.”

Indeed, Benitez believes being out of the spotlight will benefit Aquilani as he grapples with life at a new club in a new country.

“Maybe it can help Alberto that he won’t be thrown straight into the first team,” he says. “It’s never easy to settle down at a new club in a new country, so if he had to play straight away it would be difficult for him and people might start talking about him not being ready.

“We were playing Oldham in a friendly on Wednesday and he watched with me. We spoke about pre-season, the roles of players and he knows now. Not playing straight away will also give him a chance to improve his English, and that will make it easier.”

Aquilani, however, does not entirely share such an opinion.

“Waiting for my first game will definitely be my most difficult period,” says the 25-year-old. “My worry was this injury and the fact that I wouldn’t be able to play at first.

“But I’m doubly happy to be here because of the possibility of getting better properly. I have had a very thorough medical and the doctors have seen what the problem is.

“In Italy I had already started to work a little, but here the doctors have told me not to rush into my recovery, to get better and avoid having to stop again later on.

“It is a shame that I can’t play straight away, but I’m going to be working very hard at this in order to avoid problems in the future.”

As a boyhood Roma fan, Liverpool have already formed a significant part of Aquilani’s football education, having been brought up on tales of the European Cup final between the two clubs in 1984 – a game which took place six weeks before the midfielder was born.

And Aquilani has also been given a crash course in Anfield history by a former Roma team-mate who spent seven years at the club.

“Obviously I am a friend of John Arne Riise’s and he’s spoken a lot about Liverpool to me,” says Aquilani. “I’ve spoken to him about the Kop and the great fans and I can’t wait to start.

“I have never played at Anfield but I have heard a lot about the unique atmosphere you breathe there.

“Rafa Benitez was very important in me coming here. Riise spoke very well of him and said he could help me grow as a player.

“I was already aware and appreciated his work even before the opportunity arose to come here. I like the way the team plays and certainly it was a deciding factor.

“I’m very proud Rafa chose me. I also want to thank (Liverpool chief scout) Eduardo Macia, who was very important.”

The track record of Italians at Anfield is not great. On-loan Daniele Padelli convinced nobody during his solitary performance in goal two years ago while Andrea Dossena has struggled since arriving

Aquilani, though, is confident he can buck that particular trend and has already started to become accustomed to his new surrounds.

“I’ve had a drive around the city centre and some other areas,” he says. “Liverpool seems a comfortable city and appears to offer everything. I don’t think I’ll have a problem fitting in.”

And if Aquilani proves as adept as those dictaphones, it will be £20m well spent.

Liverpool Look To End Title Drought

If ever there was a summer when a little fine-tuning was all that was needed at Anfield, this was it. Having seen his Liverpool team finish second, only four points behind Manchester United last season, the closest they have come to winning the league title since their last success in 1990, Rafael Benítez expected a quiet summer, unaware of the knock-on effects of the imminent spending sprees at Real Madrid and, indirectly, Manchester City.

Real’s summer-long pursuit of Xabi Alonso has been a tortuous saga, but, for Liverpool, the more serious issue has been the effect on Benítez’s team. The issue has complicated the Liverpool manager’s plans for the new campaign and forced him to shift his priorities from the forward line to scouring Europe for replacements for Alonso.

The unrest over the Spain midfield player would have been easier for Benítez to stomach had he been able to sign Gareth Barry, the player with whom he tried to replace Alonso 12 months earlier, but instead the England midfield player joined City in June, leaving the Liverpool manager to accuse him of moving “only for the money”.

The question is whether a summer of instability, which has also included Álvaro Arbeloa joining Real and Javier Mascherano floating the unpopular idea of moving to Barcelona, has damaged Liverpool’s hopes of improving on last season. That performance might be hard to repeat, but reasons to be cheerful include the signing of Glen Johnson from Portsmouth and the assumption that Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres should get a clearer run with injuries, with Torres starting only 20 league games last season.

The concern is that Liverpool achieved the extraordinary feat of beating Chelsea and Manchester United at home and away last season and still came up narrowly short, largely because of their struggle to overcome stubborn opponents such as Stoke City and Hull City at Anfield. The only pressing need this summer was to find a player with the flair to unlock those packed defences, but, as with everything at Liverpool these days, the situation has become complicated. That long-awaited nineteenth title remains a possibility, but it will not be as straightforward as Benítez had hoped.