Thursday, September 2, 2010

Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard has turned up the heat on Arsenal ahead of tonight’s clash at the Emirates by insisting defeat for the Gunners will cost them third place in the Premier League.

Arsene Wenger’s side have taken just one point from their past three league matches and, having been dumped out of the FA Cup by Stoke, have not won in four games.

Liverpool, by contrast, have been almost unstoppable in recent weeks, with five wins and two draws pushing them back into the Champions League places ahead of Spurs and Manchester City.

A win for Rafael Benitez’s side would put them within two points of their opponents and Gerrard believes that is all the encouragement they need.

“It’s a massive game for us and the target is to try to get a result where we can push on and get third place,” he said.

“We’re just taking each game as it comes. Obviously at the end of the season our target is a top-four finish, but if Arsenal give us any sniff of catching them then we want to grab it and hopefully that will be [tonight].”

Arsenal’s ten-match unbeaten league run was ended by back-to-back defeats to Manchester United and Chelsea, and Gerrard is hoping to pile on the misery for Wenger’s young guns.

“We’ve certainly got to do what Manchester United and Chelsea have done to them, which is try to give them very little space and hit them on the counter-attack,” said the 29-year-old.

“Everyone knows that if you give Arsenal time and space they will absolutely crucify you. I’m sure they will be a bit of a wounded animal.”

With Liverpool undergoing something of a ‘Rafa-lution’, defender Sotirios Kyrgiakos has hailed the impact of Benitez after the Spanish boss was heavily criticised for a poor first half to the season.

“Rafa Benitez is the best manager I have played for,” said the Greek defender, who has played under the notable names of Sergio Markarian, Georgios Kintis and Friedhelm Funkel.

“He has won the Champions League for this club and I enjoy working for him. I have learned a lot from playing for Rafa and we want to play well in every game for him and the club.”

Meanwhile, as Liverpool have surged back into the Champions League spots in recent weeks, Arsenal have seen their title charge fall to pieces.

Arsene Wenger’s young outfit have lost their past two games to Manchester United and Chelsea and sit nine points off the top with only 13 games remaining.

However, defender Gael Clichy has challenged the club to go on a similar run to the one that saw them close an even bigger gap on Chelsea earlier in the season.

“We were 11 points behind and came back so we have to hope they drop points and make sure we don't drop any,” he said. “It is going to be difficult, but we have to do it because if we want to be the best we have to compete.”