Premier League - Liverpool bid to seize initiative

Eurosport - Sun, 22 Mar 15:45:00 2009

Liverpool head into their match with Aston Villa desperate to seize the initiative in the Premier League title race at Anfield.

FOOTBALL Liverpool Gerrard - 0

The Reds can move to within a point of Manchester United following the champions' shock 2-0 defeat at Fulham and Chelsea's 1-0 reverse at Tottenham Hotspur.

And Liverpool go into the game with top-four challengers Villa on the back of a 4-0 win over Real Madrid and a 4-1 victory at United.

But Rafael Benitez's team will be mindful that the last time they returned to a more modest league encounter, they suffered a major jolt.

Following the high of a 1-0 win over Real Madrid in the Bernabeu, their Premier League hopes suffered a major blow with a 2-0 loss against Middlesbrough.

While Villa are a more dangerous proposition than Gareth Southgate's team, Liverpool accept that this will be seen as another test of their staying power.

Liverpool's title push has often foundered at home, where they have regularly been stifled.

They remain unbeaten in the league at Anfield but have been held to draws in six of their 14 home games.

The 12 points they have dropped - against Stoke, Fulham, West Ham, Hull, Everton and Manchester City - are likely to prove costly come the end the season.

And Benitez, who is sure for a warm reception at Anfield after signing a new five-year contract, knows that his team can not afford any more slip ups if they are to maintain the pressure on Sir Alex Ferguson's men.

He said: "This week has been really good for us. To beat United away and score four goals is massive. But we cannot say anything if we don't go on to beat Aston Villa.

"If we want to be contenders and stay in the title race, clearly it depends on United. But we also have to win our games, starting with three points against Villa.

"The players know we have to win our games and try to be as close as possible to United. We can be talking and talking but all this doesn't matter unless we win.

"I'll think about Villa and see what the position is in a week. To win the title you always have to be almost perfect, and when you are four points behind and they have a game in hand, clearly you have to win almost every game."

The Spaniard has a full squad, apart from long-term absentee Philipp Degen to select from and although all the attention will be on whether the Reds can stay in touch with United, Villa are also coming under pressure.

Having spent much of the campaign pushing for a top four place, they have slipped out of the Champions League places with a miserable run that has seen them fail to win in seven matches in all competitions.

Although Benitez is assured of plenty of cheers from the Reds supporters, the reception given to Gareth Barry, who came close to moving to Anfield last summer, is likely to be far cooler.

Martin O'Neill knows all about how to come away from Anfield with a share of the spoils after picking up a 2-2 draw at Liverpool last season.

He is calling on a repeat of that performance to pull Villa out of their tail-spin and is sure that he can bring the Reds back down to earth.

He said: "They've had a fantastic victory against Manchester United at Old Trafford, they've beaten Real Madrid, so at this moment their form and results have been terrific.

"But last year we went up there, we fought back from a goal behind to get ourselves in front and conceded a late goal.

"What we have to do is keep hold of that self-belief and the players have got to try and remain as strong as possible. They are certainly capable of doing it."

Follow LIVE coverage of Liverpool v Aston Villa from 16:00 UK time!

AFP

Comment 63 - 82 of 122

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  1. YAWN..... you keep holding on to the past TAYLORKEV,­ hope it makes you happy, i'll tell you what makes­ me happy.

    CURRENT League Champions,
    CURRENT European­ Champions,
    CURRENT World Champions
    CURRENT League Cup­ Champions
    CURRENT League Leaders

    Its about you moved­ on pal, even Huddersfield won the league 3 times on the­ bounce once upon a time, you dont hear them whinning on­ about it do you??

    From mikefrank82, on Sun 22 Mar 2:17PM

  2. WHATS WITH ALL THE MANCS ON THIS BOARD THE MATCH IS­ BETWEEN LIVERPOOL AND VILLA IF IM NOT MISTAKEN LOOKS TO­ ME LIKE THEY COULD BE GETTING A LITTLE WORRIED READING­ SOME OF THE COMMENTS LFC COME ON

    From nicknastardly1, on Sun 22 Mar 2:04PM

  3. mikefrank82 get ya facts right.. Most League titles:­ 18, Liverpool FC, Most wins in the top-flight overall:­ 1713, Liverpool
    Most successful clubs overall (1875 -­ present)
    liverpool 58 cups
    manu 55 cups

    i hear loads­ of noise...

    From taylorkev89, on Sun 22 Mar 1:59PM

  4. Come on Villa.

    From wizzo, on Sun 22 Mar 1:54PM

  5. It aint hard to see what teams got this board backing -­ the scousers. Anything good said about the mancs and­ the scouse brigade start giving the the thumb down­ treatment. I think it's " treble jealously­ " i.e what treble did you boys win again ? VILLA­ ARMY VILLA ARMY .

    From Justin N, on Sun 22 Mar 1:53PM

  6. DAVE, your last post makes absolutely no sense at all.­ If your going to have a pop at someone for being­ stupid, the very least you have to do is make sure that­ your post, having said "pop" is grammatically­ correct. Trophies speak a thousand words my friend and­ I can’t hear any noise coming out of Anfield, can you??­ ;-)

    From mikefrank82, on Sun 22 Mar 1:51PM

  7. DAVE, your last post makes absolutely no sense at all.­ If your going to have a pop at someone for being­ stupid, the very least you have to do is make sure that­ your post, having said "pop" is grammatically­ correct. Trophies speak a thousand words my friend and­ I can’t hear any noise coming out of Anfield, can you??­ ;-)

    From mikefrank82, on Sun 22 Mar 1:48PM

  8. manu will end the season like thay started it.... this­ is liverpools year.. come on the reds ,YNWA

    From taylorkev89, on Sun 22 Mar 1:43PM

  9. The stutter is with Man U, the momentum is with Pool­ (if they win today) Man U can afford a loss and a draw­ before the end of the season, but...not if Pool win all­ their remaining games. Which if you have the­ momentum...thats certainly possible.

    From Tom, on Sun 22 Mar 1:29PM

  10. Now a 4 point swing is 2 draws, then goal differnce is­ used and your goal difference id on 3 better that a 2-0­ win and a 1-0 win in case you still can't count. So­ it is small your not +100 goals you arrogant fool.

    From Dave, on Sun 22 Mar 1:24PM

  11. comment 56 hahaha!!!

    From lunboy, on Sun 22 Mar 1:23PM

  12. a defeat and a draw and goal difference is not­ important its a 5 point swing not a 4 point swing, your­ so worried you can't count anymore

    From Dave, on Sun 22 Mar 1:21PM

  13. You are actually 4 points clear and no games in hand­ over liverpool.

    From Dave, on Sun 22 Mar 1:16PM

  14. Its time to deliver Rafa come on lads lets nail it.LFC­ forever

    From Phil, on Sun 22 Mar 1:12PM

  15. I am a Liverpool fan but I give Warning to Man Utd. You­ are the worlds top team, no doubt, but Fergie could­ throw the league away with arrogance. He thinks he can­ change the entire midfield every game and still win.­ Why does he do it. When I saw his team against us I­ seriously thought he had chosen a weak midfield, and so­ it proved. I think his team selection cost them. He is­ the manager of all time but sometimes he lets arrogance­ take over. Be warned.

    From davylad3rd, on Sun 22 Mar 1:06PM

  16. no. 69, manu is also nothing without pushy vidic and­ diving ronaldo, both are players that play dirty. manu­ is a collectn of overpampered babies.

    From godwin a, on Sun 22 Mar 1:04PM
  17. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    WHOS WORRIED??? We are 4 points clear with a game in­ hand. should liverfool win today we are STILL top by a­ point with a game in hand. Meaning we can afford­ another loss and a draw and STILL be top of the league­ due to our superior goal diffrence. so no, none of the­ mighty red fans are scared!!

    ONLY FOOLS AND SCOUSERS­ "THIS TIME NEXT YEAR RAFA, WE'LL BE­ CHAMPIONS!" ha ha

    From mikefrank82, on Sun 22 Mar 12:58PM

  18. No.69 then why did you lose from a lead when you played­ at Anfield this year when neither two men of the two­ man team were playing?

    From Dave, on Sun 22 Mar 12:51PM

  19. Why dont Man Utd fans go to the man u forum, there are­ more here than ever............. worrying?

    From Dave, on Sun 22 Mar 12:48PM

  20. Up liverpool, though I am a liitel bit worried when we­ play small teams, I can only hope that today will be­ like the 5-1 defeat of newcastle in dec. For manu, they­ have lost their nerves from the 4-1 defeat we gave to­ them. They shall continue to fall till the end of the­ season. They r so indisciplined and always initimidate­ the ref. For chelasea, they were never going to be a­ threat. I guess they should start thinking of sacking­ hiddink. Up liverpool, shame on manu and­ chelsea!!!!!!!!!!!!

    From godwin a, on Sun 22 Mar 12:39PM
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