Rafa Benitez remains confident that Liverpool can still finish in the Premier League top four, despite enduring 'not a normal season'.
After enjoying a campaign of near-total dominance last time out, Jurgen Klopp's side have been hampered by injuries since the new season got underway and have lost four Premier League matches already, leaving them ninth in the table.
Benitez, who guided the Reds to their fifth European Cup triumph in 2005, has been sharing his thoughts on his former club's troubles and despite pundits lining up to criticise the alarming drop-off from a club that almost won a quadruple of trophies earlier this year, the Spaniard took a far more upbeat view of their chances going forward.
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Writing in The Times, Benitez said: "I am not as pessimistic about their prospects as everyone else. This is not a normal season. They have had injuries, the World Cup is a distraction, but they remain a very strong team.
"I am sure they will recover and get in to the top four in the Premier League, and we know from their performances in recent seasons how they can go far in European competitions."
A number of Liverpool's regular starters have faced criticism for under-par performances this season, including trusted midfielder Fabinho, but Benitez has explained how the Brazilian has not been helped by constant formation tweaks and the players around him.
Benitez said: "Fabinho is a player who needs solutions around him. He is not like Thiago Alcantara who can pass to his left, right, in front or wherever because he can see all these things. But then, Thiago cannot challenge like Fabinho or provide the same balance.
"In Fabinho’s case, the solutions are having players around him in the right positions so he can give them the ball. If this happens then he will make fewer mistakes and can continue protecting the centre-backs. He needs a bit of belief at the moment, but he is still a great player.
"When Klopp is changing the team, as he is now, he knows something is not right. He has tried to fix the problems by moving from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2 and, recently, he has played a 'diamond' with Roberto Firmino behind Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez. At the moment, other teams are pushing and pressing Liverpool. When this happens, Fabinho has more problems if he does not have two or three options available."
Liverpool face another one of Benitez' old clubs, Napoli, tonight in their final Champions League group game with both sides having already qualified. The in-form Italians will top the group unless the Reds can beat them by four clear goals and, with the Serie A leaders currently one of the most in-form teams in Europe, that challenge looks a tall order against a team that Benitez believes will be hard to stop in Champions League this season.
He added: "I follow Napoli closely because of my time there and I have a lot of respect for their head coach, Luciano Spalletti. At 63, he is the type of manager I like because he walks the walk rather than talks the talk. He focuses on getting the best from his players rather than the “modern football” way of pushing “projects”. Napoli are unbeaten this season and I think they are one of the contenders to win the Champions League. They play with no fear."
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