It’s easy to forget that Liverpool were favourites for the Premier League title at the end of August. Rafael Benitez’s team had got off to a bright start and, with the acquisition of Torres, Babel and Voronin, it seemed they were ready to go the distance with the Manchester United’s and Chelsea’s of this world.
Sadly, the title threat hasn’t materialised and it’s now all about the race for fourth place. The Reds currently lie in sixth place, behind Everton and Aston Villa, yet Sporting Life reports that Rafa is confident of pipping their rivals for a Champions League spot.
He said: “We still believe we are best placed to finish fourth. We are not happy that it has become difficult. But we have one game in hand and we must get back to fourth and then try to catch the third-placed team.”
The race for fourth spot is seemingly now a straight fight between Everton, Aston Villa, Liverpool and Manchester City.
Benitez said: “I think we are the best equipped to be fourth, at least. Martin O’Neill at Villa and Sven (Goran Eriksson) at City may say different and Everton too, but I have confidence in my team.”
Of course, they could always win the Champions League as they did in 2005 and then claim that this gives them the right to be in the following season’s competition!