Rafa Benitez has given his verdict on Liverpool’s chances of finishing in the Premier League’s top four.
The Reds moved to six points adrift of fourth place after a 2-0 victory over Newcastle United. Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo scored the goals in the first half to hand Liverpool a much-needed victory.
Jurgen Klopp’s side are next in action against Real Madrid in the Champions League in midweek. Their return to top flight matters sees them travel to face Crystal Palace next weekend.
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Benitez was working as a pundit for Liverpool’s game against Newcastle. The former Reds boss says he ‘has to believe’ that his old club will improve in the second half of the season, and assesses their chances of finishing in the top four.
“I have to believe that the second part of the league Liverpool will be stronger, and with these players they have a good option now,” Benitez told Sky Sports.
“We talk about Salah - always a threat - but they have Darwin Nunez with pace and Gakpo with some movements and some pace, some good movements between defenders and also between the lines
“If it’s not working you have Firmino or Jota, and they are very clever and can link with the players around, so I think they have options now in attack.
“[Virgil] van Dijk comes into defence, gives confidence to the rest of the team, so they can be a little bit more compact sometimes because one of the strengths of Liverpool is the full-backs going really high, really wide, but one of the problems sometimes is that there is a big gap.
“We talk about Real Madrid and Vinicius, he is running into this space in the channel behind Alexander-Arnold, so that is something I am sure that the club will manage.
“They will have some more confidence I’m sure, Liverpool, but still they have to keep the balance to ensure they can’t concede or give easy chances to the other team.”
Liverpool have now won back-to-back matches following on from their previous victory over Everton. It also sees the Reds keep their first clean sheet away in the league since last April, which was also against Newcastle at St James’ Park.
Benitez feels that Liverpool will be more confident following the last two results, and reckons that the return of players like Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino will help the Reds in the second half of the campaign.
“We are talking about the derby, that was massive in terms of emotion, and now a difficult game against a team they were doing really well so it’s not just two games in a row, it’s the way and the confidence," said Benitez.
“Also in this game we can talk about players coming back, important players coming back. I think as a manager, both managers did what they had to do in the second half.
“Eddie Howe was trying to press with two strikers using the pace of Isak and the creativity of Saint-Maximin to create something when they had the ball, and Jurgen was trying to give some minutes to players and manage the game.
“At the end of the game we watched a lot of chances because both teams were tired, maybe thinking about the final and maybe thinking about the game against Real Madrid, so they were a little more relaxed.
“And players like Jota and Firmino, they had very clever movements, worked between the lines, worked passes and they had more chances.
“I think both managers did what they had to do, and it is true, Liverpool are growing in confidence.”
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