RAFA : CHELSEA ARE AFRAID OF US
Rafael Benitez looked ahead to Sunday's Premiership clash with Chelsea at Anfield and declared: "They are worried about us."
Benitez has dismissed Jose Mourinho's midweek claims that Liverpool employ long ball tactics and insisted the Chelsea manager's constant need to talk about the Reds only reflects the fear he now holds about taking on the European champions.
"When they are talking and talking and talking before the game it means they are worried, maybe they are afraid, I don't know. Maybe he (Mourinho) needs to talk because it'll be difficult to control the games and to beat us.
"Against us they have a lot of problems because we approach the games with a lot of confidence and we are not afraid. We know that we can beat them.
"I don't talk a lot about the other teams, I prefer to spend my time talking about my team. I cannot stop him if he wants to talk about my team. If they talk a lot, it means we are doing the right things.
"We played better than them on Wednesday, they are at the top of the league with a squad maybe as good as anyone in the world and we played at the same level as them.
"We had control in midfield, defence and attack. As a manager that makes me happy. I do not want to keep talking about the penalties we were denied, but if you watch TV you could see there was no doubt, two, maybe three."
Asked whether runaway league leaders Chelsea are currently the best team in the world, Benitez replied: "It is a very difficult question. What makes you the best team in the world?
"Chelsea are a very good team, they are difficult to beat, but to me, Arsenal played much better football two or three years ago. They won matches and were exciting to watch. Barcelona and Milan too, they play much better football, they create entertainment and win matches so how can you say Chelsea are the best team in the world
)
)
