Liverpool limp on but reserves running dry

THESE should be heady days for Rafael Benitez. Liverpool currently sit proudly atop the Premier League, their hopes of a first title since 1990 mushrooming by the week, and once again the club are eyeing progress to the latter stages the Champions League, with tomorrow’s final group game with PSV Eindhoven little more than an irrelevance.

But — and there is always a but with Liverpool — even that rosy scenario cannot mask the creeping sense of fear that continues to muffle the more optimistic voices on Merseyside.

On Saturday Benitez insisted, not for the first time this season, that Liverpool can play far better than they did here — that while they lead the Premier League, their listless performances can be construed as a positive. Just wait until we really find form, seems to be the message.