• One of most important Merseyside derbies of Spaniard’s reign
• Little margin for error ahead of defining stage of season
Rafael Benítez has admitted Liverpool’s struggle to secure a lucrative Champions League return has placed added significance on the 213th Merseyside derby and left the club little margin for error ahead of a defining stage in their season.
Liverpool are unbeaten in six league games going into the lunchtime meeting with Everton that Benítez ranks among the most important derbies of his six-year reign on Merseyside. Away trips to Arsenal and Manchester City follow the derby for Benítez’s team and, given the congested nature of the fight for fourth place plus the importance of the Champions League on Liverpool’s precarious finances, the manager admits there can be no slip-up against David Moyes’s improving side.
“Every derby is different and important for its own reasons, but this one will be very special because we have to win it,” the Liverpool manager conceded. “Every game for us now is important. When you’re not in a very good position, you know that every game will be crucial. It is true that we don’t have much margin for error. We know City have two games in hand, Tottenham are there, Villa have one game in hand so we cannot make too many mistakes. We have to keep winning our games and, because we will play City or Arsenal, we can reduce the gap or we will have more problems.
“If we win we will have more confidence and we will have to keep the team working very hard until the end. I think Arsenal finished fourth in the last week against Tottenham [two years ago] so it is something that we have to consider if it’s necessary. Hopefully not.”
Liverpool’s financial worries were made apparent this week when the club’s managing director, Christian Purslow, admitted the co-owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, must reduce the Anfield debt by £100m before July under the terms of their last refinancing deal with the Royal Bank of Scotland. And the impact of the debt on Benítez’s squad was re-emphasised by Moyes yesterday who, with words that will no doubt resonate with his Liverpool rival, claimed the gap between the Merseyside clubs is closing as a consequence.
Moyes, who reaches his 600th game in club management today and whose side are unbeaten in nine league matches, said: “I still think we are underdogs. They have had a decade of overspending and we have found it difficult to match that. Now, though, maybe it’s changing for them. Maybe they’re going to be in a similar situation to Everton. Look, they’re a really good footballing club with some great players. I don’t know what the future holds for them, but for eight or nine years we have had to deal at a different level, yet be judged on equal terms on the pitch, and because of things changing, then m aybe things are a lot closer now.”
Benítez was unable to sign the striker he felt Liverpool needed during the recent transfer window, despite raising over £7m through player sales, but claims he still has sufficient cover to sustain a Champions League pursuit in the absence of the injured Fernando Torres. “We don’t have the big name that maybe people expected, but we have [Dirk] Kuyt, [David] Ngog and Torres is fit in more or less one month, so I think we can manage. We are winning without Torres so hopefully we can keep winning without him and afterwards with him. Ryan [Babel] is a striker, he likes to play there, he has had to play as a left-winger because it could be good for us, but if it’s necessary we can move him.”
Benítez confirmed the club have reached a pre-contract agreement for the Standard Liège striker Milan Jovanovic, although the Serbia international is yet to put pen to paper on the deal.
LiverpoolRafael BenítezEvertonPremier LeagueAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk
