Rafa Benitez: Stoke City the only game that matters right now - Liverpool FC latest
RAFA BENITEZ has made it clear to Liverpool's title rivals that no-one at Anfield will be distracted from their bid to stay ahead of the field.
Second-placed Chelsea meet third-placed Manchester United at Old Trafford this weekend in what could be one of the pivotal games in this season's title race.
But Benitez is adamant that the only game that matters to Liverpool is the one which sees the league leaders travel to the Britannia Stadium to take on Stoke City tomorrow evening.
The Reds boss would be more than happy to accept any results that go his team's way in the weeks and months to come - but insists the only thing that matters is that Liverpool's fate is in their own hands and they can determine their own destiny if they keep on winning.
"It is just about Liverpool and our own results," said the Spaniard. "If we keep winning our games then it will not matter what other teams do.
"Obviously it would make things easier for us if the other teams around us make mistakes but we are only interested in our own results.
"This weekend we play Stoke and this is the game we will be focusing on."
The Premier League season is now past its halfway point and having played 20 games Liverpool currently stand proudly on top of the table.
Benitez is more than happy with the way his team has performed so far, but he believes there is still much more to come from the Reds in the second half of the campaign.
He added: "It is clear that the team is doing well because we are at the top of the league but we can still do even better.
"In the past three or four seasons we have played better in the second half of the season and this is what we will be looking to do again this time.
"We have players who have been out because of injury but who are now coming back to full fitness, and having Fernando Torres, Martin Skrtel and Fabio Aurelio back will be a big boost to us.
"But we also have players whose form is improving and others whose form will improve so we have a lot of confidence.
"The players know that we have to keep working hard and winning games and they also know that we cannot make too many mistakes and must keep our feet on the ground."
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Liverpool are another team that are performing well at the moment. They look like they’ve now hit 4th gear at just the right time and have been racking up easy wins and goals in their last few games. They hammered Newcastle 5-1 before winning 2-0 at the weekend against Preston in the FA cup, and, apart from Alonso & Arbeloa, Benitez does not have any serious injury worries. Torres is expected to be fully fit for this game, so with Gerrard pulling the strings in midfield and Torres & Keane running riot up front, I can see a lot of problems for Stoke.
Stoke lost 2-0 to Hartlepool in the FA cup, although that was with a severely depleted squad. However, they have hit a rough patch in their recent form. Cresswell will be back for this game and Matthew Etherington (their new winger signed from West Ham) will probably start. But Kitson is a doubt and Fuller is still banned, not to mention Griffin, Cort, and Sidibe on their injury list. They seem to have run out of steam after their early success in the league, and I can’t see them making a revival in their fortunes this match.
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