Benitez: 'Let's not go from heroes to Villans'

Beating two of the world's best will be pointless if Liverpool slip up today against a wounded animal, says Rafa

'We have to think about one game at a time,' insists Benitez (GETTY IMAGES)

Liverpool's conquering heroes will be welcomed into the Anfield arena with special fervour just before four o'clock this afternoon, but as the chorus of "You'll Never Walk Alone" dies away, there will be a realisation on and off the pitch that the next 90 minutes of football represents just the sort of hurdle that has tripped them up in the past.

Having just humiliated the world's two biggest football clubs by an aggregate score of 8-1 entitles Rafa Benitez's squad to a sense of achievement, but not to an assumption that Aston Villa will roll over to have their tummies tickled. A pride of proud lions Liverpool may be after seeing off Real Madrid and Manchester United in five days; but in Villa they face a wounded animal whose instinct-ive reaction may be to lash out.

Even if current form does not suggest it, the teams have much in common, notably a counterattacking style bringing with it a tendency to be frustrated by dogged visitors on their own ground while enjoying the greater space and freedom granted to them on their own travels. Three times before Christmas Liverpool allowed modest opposition to thumb their nose at the "This is Anfield" sign above the tunnel, departing with a goalless draw. Since then Manchester City and Everton have both taken away a deserved point.

Villa fans had their patience tested with five 0-0 draws at home and last week, after two more draws and a defeat by Tottenham, made their feelings known by cheering when Gabriel Agbonlahor was substituted and then booing the team off.

Having ascended to third place in the table last month, their team have failed to win any of the subsequent seven games and are suddenly facing the prospect of another diet of Uefa Cup football unless they can make up ground on Arsenal.

Expectations, as Benitez has often said in his time at Anfield, can be difficult to deal with. Since hearing the Champions' League quarter-final draw during a training session on Friday (delayed so Steven Gerrard could return from his successful court appear-ance) the Liverpool manager has spent much of the past two days trying to focus attention on today's task.

"We have to think about one game at a time," he insisted. "Beating Manchester United away was massive for us but we can't say anything more if we don't beat Aston Villa. If we can beat them we'll be in a fantastic position, still in the title race and playing with a lot of confidence."

He said sympathetically of Villa: "It's difficult playing for a long time at the level they were, because the other sides are very strong and Arsenal are playing better now."

Gerrard and Fernando Torres, the heroes of Old Trafford, will clearly be key to Liverpool's prospects for the rest of the season and must expect plenty of work. "If they are fit, they have to play," Benitez said of his dyn-amic duo. "You cannot find two strikers of this level scoring a lot of goals together, so for us to have these two fit and scoring is massive because the rest of the team play with more confidence." How he must love his countryman Torres, not just for his goals, but for demonstrating to the club's owners that quality rarely comes cheap. When the chips are down over the course of Benitez's new five-year contract and he is insisting on his right to judge a player's value, Torres at £26 million is the man he can point to.

As for that elusive first title: "It depends on United losing some games, but clearly we have to win almost every game. If we can beat Villa and Fulham [on Saturday week] we are closer."

Today's games

Wigan Athletic v Hull City (1.30pm, Sky Sports 1)

Even a 5-0 home defeat by Wigan could not puncture Hull's early-season optimism but they have recorded only one (lucky) win at Fulham since December and are suffering. Expect plenty of television cutaways to an anxious Phil Brown and his earpiece.

Manchester City v Sunderland (3pm)

City's Stephen Ireland reckons they play better against the bigger teams, which may help against Martin Jol's impressive Hamburg in the Uefa Cup but not today. They did, however, manage their only away win of the season, by an emphatic 3-0, against Sunderland, who are on a bad run.

Liverpool v Aston Villa (4pm, Sky Sports 1)

There was an unusual defeatism about Martin O'Neill suggesting Gareth Barry could leave this summer – probably for Liverpool – if Villa do not make the Champions' League. Emile Heskey may be sacrificed against his old club in order to frustrate them with a five-man midfield.

Steve Tongue