Gerrard: we can beat Blues

LIVERPOOL captain Steven Gerrard has set his sights on beating Manchester City in 10 days’ time as the race for Champions League places heats up.

Last night’s 1-0 defeat at Arsenal – where the Reds have not won for a decade – along with a similar reverse for Tottenham at Wolves and Aston Villa’s goalless draw with Manchester United handed the initiative to City.

They are level on points with fourth-placed Liverpool but have two matches in hand and the fixture list pitches the two together at Eastlands a week on Sunday.

“We have got to use a lot of positives from the (Arsenal) match,” he said.

“There are plenty of teams who go there and get played off the park. I certainly feel disappointed leaving with nothing.

“We played against a fantastic Arsenal team with quality players who can open up any team in the world, and they did not really create many chances. It was just one mistake in our defence and they scored from it.

“The way we played over the 90 minutes, we certainly deserved a point.

“The lads are gutted after putting in all that effort and getting nothing, but sometimes that happens and you just have to get on with it.

“There is nothing we can do about this result now. The lads will reflect on it and we have a very big game coming up against Manchester City.

“But if we play like we did at Arsenal, then I fancy us to beat them.

“I feel if we are on our game and playing well, we are a match for anyone.”

An eighth defeat of the season – two more than last year when they ran champions Manchester United a close second – is one of the most damaging statistics for Liverpool.

Seven of those came in the first four months of the campaign. By contrast, Manchester City have lost four games and none so far at their Eastlands home fortress.

“We are where we are in the table because we were very inconsistent earlier in the season,” said the England international.

“But look at Liverpool’s performances over the last six or seven games – if we show that consistency, then we will challenge for the league.”

Meanwhile, Rafael Benitez said a deal to sign Standard Liege forward Milan Jovanovic was still to be completed.

“There are a lot of rumours in the press but we are working and we will say something if we finalise things,” said the Liverpool boss.

“At this moment we are talking with people and we are working.”