Liverpool can maintain pace, Benitez warns Chelsea, United

Manchester United head into their summit meeting with Chelsea this weekend with a warning from Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez ringing in their ears.

The two sides who contested last season’s Champions League final kicked off this campaign as joint favourites for the 2008/09 Premier League title.

But it is Benitez’s Liverpool who enter the business end of the season at the top of the table and the Spaniard is confident his side have the necessary reserves to keep their noses in front of rivals with deeper resources all the way to the end of the season.

Benitez will be in the dugout at Stoke on Saturday for the first time since undergoing surgery to remove kidney stones last month and he is looking forward to seeing how his side respond to the return of both Fernando Torres and Martin Skrtel following their recovery from, respectively, hamstring and knee injuries.

“We can still improve,” Benitez stressed, playing down suggestions that Liverpool’s lack of real strength in depth could prove their undoing.

“Skrtel has not been playing, Javier Mascherano has been playing much better in the last few games, Steven Gerrard is improving and Torres is coming back now.

“So I think we will have more options and more competition for places, which can be important. Clearly we are in a much better position than in previous seasons although we know that a mistake now can be massive.”

With United entertaining Chelsea at Old Trafford on Sunday, Liverpool can pull six points clear of the Londoners with a win at Stoke on Saturday, although Benitez will be mindful of how effectively the Premiership newcomers frustrated his side to earn a point at Anfield earlier in the season.

United’s build-up to the meeting with Chelsea has been far from ideal with Sir Alex Ferguson’s side having suffered a surprise 1-0 defeat by Derby in the League Cup semi-final first leg in midweek.

Then, in the early hours of Thursday, United superstar Cristiano Ronaldo escaped unhurt from a spectacular car crash near Manchester airport in which his Ferrari was written off.

Serbian centreback Nemanja Vidic played down the significance of United’s first defeat in 15 matches.

“Maybe in the back of our minds we always recognised we would have a second chance (in the second leg),” he said. “Maybe that is why we didn’t perform as we can and Derby took advantage of the fact we played badly.

“But the Premier League is different. We know what it means for both teams and we are looking forward to it.”

Despite Arsene Wenger’s defiantly bullish tone, the focus of Arsenal’s season must now be ensuring a top-four finish.

Wenger’s men are unbeaten in six matches but remain three points adrift of Aston Villa, the side currently occupying the final qualifying spot for next season’s Champions League.

Injuries to experienced defenders Mikael Silvestre and William Gallas, both of whom are facing three-week lay-offs, have not helped the cause of the Gunners, who will face a testing examination when Bolton visit the Emirates on Saturday.

On form, Villa would be expected to claim all three points at home to bottom side West Brom but the local rivalry that forms the backdrop to that encounter makes it a harder one to call.

Fixtures (1500 GMT unless stated)

Arsenal v Bolton, Aston Villa v West Brom (1245 GMT), Everton v Hull City, Fulham v Blackburn, Middlesbrough v Sunderland, Newcastle v West Ham, Portsmouth v Manchester City, Stoke City v Liverpool (1730 GMT)

Sunday

Manchester Utd v Chelsea (1600 GMT), Wigan v Tottenham (1330 GMT)