Liverpool boss Benitez ready for crunch time

Rafael Benitez admits Liverpool will find out how realistic their Premier League and Champions League hopes really are during a crucial period of four games in 10 days.

Benitez’s side are five points behind Premier League leaders Manchester United, who will extend that gap to eight points if they beat Blackburn on Saturday before the Reds face Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday.

Liverpool also have a daunting Champions League last 16 first leg trip to Real Madrid on Wednesday before returning to domestic action at Middlesbrough next Saturday and then against Sunderland on March 3.

With United in dominant form, Benitez knows his team has no margin for error.

“Manchester United are a good team, they are winning many games in a row, so we know we have to win almost every game. You cannot even draw a game at the moment,” Benitez said.

“This is a crucial time, we have four games in a few days and that can make a massive difference to whether we will be fighting for trophies at the end of the season.

“At this stage, you can only think of taking three points and then seeing how your rivals do. We cannot influence what happens to other teams so we must concentrate on our own job and see whether someone else loses a match or two.

“It now depends on one or two weeks to see what happens. Everything can change in just a few days.

“If we can beat Manchester City it will give us confidence, every game now at this stage can affect the mood in the dressing room.”

Benitez will start this crucial period without captain Steven Gerrard, who has not fully recovered from a hamstring injury. Gerrard will miss the City game in the hope he will be able to boost his fitness in time to play against Real at the Bernabeu.

Benitez, who will also be without suspended midfielder Xabi Alonso against City, said: “We must win these games because United could still continue winning, too. That will then make our game at Old Trafford next month crucial.

“Five points is a significant lead. But it is not impossible. If we win our games before we go to Old Trafford, and then we win, the gap will be just two and then we will wait to see how that affects the situation.

“We can win without (Fernando) Torres, we can win without Gerrard, but it is easier to win with them both playing.

“It does not matter what other teams say about us being challengers or not, we just have to do our job and win our games.

“Manchester City have a poor away record but teams come to Anfield wanting to show what they can do. It is a window for them, so you cannot really make assessments based on form, just on the quality of players they have.”