Houllier hoping for fourth at best

Gerard Houllier has admitted Liverpool are now realistically going for fourth spot at best in the Barclaycard Premiership.

After suffering their sixth league defeat of the season – 2-1 at home to Manchester United – Liverpool are watching the big three of the champions, Arsenal and Chelsea disappearing over the horizon in their own private battle for the title.

Houllier bemoaned a penalty which was not awarded at Anfield yesterday and the fact that his side tired in the second half after their gruelling midweek trek to Bucharest.

But he accepted: “Realistically the fourth position is what we are aiming at, because the top three are pulling away now.

“But you never know; they are all playing Champions League, and we are not. I feel the second half of the season will be very interesting.”

Houllier was adamant the defeat against United had as much to do with tiredness as anything United did to them.

“It would have been good to have an advantage before the break when we were on top, because I knew we would have a physical dip in the second half – and they took advantage of that,” he said.

“They scored twice, and it looked like we were going through a difficult spell physically.

“The games you play against United, Arsenal and Chelsea are going to stretch you – and it was a shame we had to play one of those three straight after Bucharest.”

United took a 2-0 lead thanks to two goals from Ryan Giggs. But Harry Kewell pulled one back before a crucial incident when Florent Sinama-Pongolle looked to have been impeded in the box by Rio Ferdinand but was not awarded a penalty.

The result leaves Liverpool 13 points off the top, in eighth place.

Houllier remained adamant the Reds deserved a draw and said: “We should have had that penalty, although I am not blaming referee Graham Poll.

“He was probably seeing it from a different angle. But I have now seen it on TV, and it is clear to me. At Old Trafford I feel it would have been a penalty.”

Houllier refused to blame his players for not protesting.

He said: “I do not like my players chasing referees – it means they lose concentration. He is not going to change his mind – Mr Poll obviously saw it differently.”

Houllier confirmed Michael Owen looks sure to miss next weekend’s England international with his ankle injury but should be back to face Middlesbrough on November 22.

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson admitted Liverpool were the better side in the first half.

“They put everything into that first half and they were better than us in that first half,” he said.

“It made it all very exciting, and it is a pleasure to be involved in these sort of games.

“They played with a conviction that we did not match. We lacked confidence for some reason; maybe because their good start put us on the back foot.

“But in the second period we were more like our real selves. We got 2-0 in front, but then Liverpool started playing well again. It meant a nail-biting finish.”