Benitez expects different sort of race

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE: Liverpool v Aston VillaVenue: Anfield Kick-off: Tonight, 8pm On TV: ESPN

LIVERPOOL MANAGER Rafael Benitez does not expect the Premier League’s big four to have things all their own way this season. Benitez, who could give a debut to new Greek defender Sotirios Kyrgiakos against Aston Villa tonight at Anfield, anticipates plenty of teams taking points off them, Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea.

He said: “This will be a different sort of title race. Already we have lost, and so have Manchester United. There are other teams who can make an impact – Spurs, Manchester City, Villa – and I believe it will be a lot harder this season for the top four teams to win every game. Villa will be difficult for us. They have pace, experience and ability. They do very well in away games because of that and are an extremely dangerous side.”

Liverpool suffered a bad defeat at Tottenham on the opening weekend, but bounced back with a resounding 4-0 victory over Stoke on Wednesday. And captain Steven Gerrard said: “The opening games have shown this season it will be very difficult to win. We are going to have to be even better than last season. It looks like it is going to be a very competitive league. The points total we amassed last season would have been good enough to win the title in the last three or four seasons, but it was only good enough to be second.

Benitez will make a late decision on whether defender Martin Skrtel can be risked with a broken jaw against Villa. If he does not make the Villa game, Benitez hinted that he may well stick with teenager Daniel Ayala, with his new €2.3 million Greek defender short of match practice.

Benitez, though, is confident that would not be a risk. He said: “Dani did very well against Stoke after a nervous start and it may be difficult to bring Kyrgiakos straight in. Against Stoke the players wanted to prove they are good enough to win the title after that opening defeat at Spurs.”

Benitez believes Kyrgiakos will eventually bring steel to a defence that has already been boosted by the attacking flair of new full-back Glen Johnson, who scored on his home debut on Wednesday. Benitez has Johnson flying down the right, while another youngster, Emiliano Insua, is having an impact on the left flank.

Benitez says: “Glen can score goals for us. We knew he was very good going forward but he accepts he must work on his defensive side. He has already shown what he can do. I believe he can score between five and 10 goals for the team.”

Villa centre-back Curtis Davies is doubtful for the trip to Anfield after a recurrence of his shoulder problem. His replacement, rookie Shane Lowry, is amongst the candidates to replace him, although Habib Beye could switch from right-back.

O’Neill, who is continuing his pursuit of Sylvain Distin and Stephen Warnock to bolster his back four, will also be hoping striker John Carew is fit to make his first appearance of the season.