Blue day: Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez watches as
his side slump to defeat at Chelsea
The Reds boss was clearly upset by the 2-0 loss at
Stamford Bridge.
But Benitez went on the attack against those who feel
the Premier League crown is already beyond his side.
Despite the fact Liverpool have now lost one game more
than they did all of last season, upbeat Benitez is confident the
campaign is still very much alive.
And, no, he wasn't kidding!
Liverpool lost two games last term but have already
suffered defeats by Tottenham, Aston Villa and now Chelsea this
time out - leaving them six points behind the leaders from the
Bridge.
But Benitez pointed to Manchester United's defeat at
Burnley and their draw with Sunderland - as well as Chelsea's loss
at Wigan - as reasons to remain cheerful.
He said: "If the teams at the top lose points and you
win, then you're in a better position.
"But it's a long race. Chelsea are very strong but
we'll try to stay as close as possible and see what happens in
April and May.
"You will see the top sides losing more points against
any team. That's good for the Premier League but it means we have
to keep going.
"We can't think about three defeats. It's one game at a
time, try to win the next game and improve. That's it."
Liverpool face Sunderland after the international break
and Benitez pointed to the amount of games they drew last season as
their undoing.
In a largely uncontroversial match against their bitter
rivals, the only contentious moment came when Liverpool's Slovakian
defender Martin Skrtel appeared to be bundled over in the box by
Didier Drogba.
Benitez said: "It could have been a penalty, I haven't
seen the replay.
"It looked a penalty from the bench but I cannot do
anything about that now.
"Our target has to be the next game. It's important to
keep calm, keep working, improving.
