Derby day stakes loom large for Benitez

Liverpool v Everton:RAFAEL BENITEZ 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 Benitez ranks among the most important derbies of his six-year reign on Merseyside. Away trips to Arsenal and Manchester City follow the derby for Benitez’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. I think Arsenal finished fourth in the last week against Tottenham [two years ago] so it is something we have to consider if it’s necessary. Hopefully not.”

Liverpool’s financial worries became clear this week when the club’s managing director, Christian Purslow, said the co-owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, must reduce the Anfield debt by €100 million before July under the terms of their last refinancing deal with the Royal Bank of Scotland.

And the impact of the debt on Benitez’s squad was re-emphasised by Moyes yesterday who claimed the gap between the Merseyside clubs is closing as a consequence.

Moyes, 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. . . . for eight or nine years we have had to deal at a different level, yet be judged on equal terms on the pitch. Maybe things are a lot closer now.”

Guardian Service