Exchange of digs ‘getting stupid now'

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers may have made his small contribution to the growing menagerie which seems to have enveloped the title race but he insists mind games have no effect.

After Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho kicked things off by describing his team as a little horse after beating favourites Manchester City, the Reds boss described his side as the “chihuahua that runs in between the horses’ legs” after a midweek victory at Fulham left them four points behind the leaders.

Rodgers has always insisted Liverpool have too much to do — and too little to do it with — to be in the title race but the verbal sparring has gone up a notch after Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said that attitude smacked of a “fear of failure”.