RAFA BENITEZ insists Liverpool’s crunch clash with Manchester City will NOT decide their top four fate.

The Reds are battling with City for the final Champions League spot and the pair meet at Eastlands on Sunday.

Liverpool boss Benitez said: “It will be very important for both teams.

“It is a position we are both fighting for with Tottenham and Aston Villa so we have keep going until the end of the season.

“But it’s not just one or two games, every game is important and especially if you play against a team which is near you in the table.

“Tottenham spent some money, Aston Villa spent some money, City spent some money, and we spent some money so the pressure is on all of us.”

City are unbeaten at home in the Premier League this season but Benitez claims he side will go for the victory.

He added: “We will try to win. You never know how you can win, sometimes it is counter-attack, sometimes it is attacking.

“We will try to find the balance.

“I think they are an attacking team and we like to attack too so I think it will be open.”

Manchester City’s top scorer Carlos Tevez is set to miss the match after his wife gave birth.

Benitez believes his opposite number Roberto Mancini will be able to cope without the Argentina striker.

He said: “If Tevez is not there they will miss him and I will be pleased but I still think they have quality.

“Clearly he is a good player and he is doing well but they have other good strikers.

“They signed a lot of strikers, so I think they have enough quality in the squad to replace Tevez with a good player.”

Asked if his own star striker Fernando Torres could make a comeback in the match, Benitez added: “No, I don’t think so. He’s not ready yet.”

With Ronaldo increasingly reluctant to defend, Ferguson accepts he took advantage of Rooney’s willingness to work as he tried to forge another title-winning side.

“We probably didn’t use him properly last season,” Ferguson told US-based radio station Sirius.

“We probably exploited his eagerness and enthusiasm to play anywhere. But we know his strengths, we know where he’s best and that’s where we’re using him this season.”

“We talk about world-class players and I think that’s a misused quote a lot of the time but, when you see his performances of late, you know you’re talking about a really world-class player,” said Ferguson.

“I always said to him that to be a world-class forward you need to have a really consistent goal performance.

“He is now on 25 goals and there are still 14 or 15 matches to go, maybe more depending on how we do in Europe.

“So it does put him in the frame of not just being a great player but also a great goal-scorer.”

Nemanja Vidic insists he has no intention of quitting Old Trafford. The Manchester United defender, 28, also rapped claims his working relationship with boss Alex Ferguson has broken down. Vidic said: “I have never had a conflict of any kind with Sir Alex Ferguson and speculation I want to leave United is completely untrue. I have a contract until the summer of 2012 and intend to see it through to the very last day. United have made me the player I am today and there is no substance whatsoever in rumours I have been looking for a move away to either Real Madrid or AC Milan.” Serb Vidic has been struggling with a leg injury and his last outing came in the 5-0 win over Wigan on December 30. But he added: “I think I will return to action very quickly and hopefully I will be back to my best as soon as I am picked in the starting line-up again.”
Steve Page, The Sun

Wayne Rooney and Sir Alex Ferguson praised Darren Fletcher’s inspirational display during United’s enthralling 2-1 victory over Arsenal at Old Trafford on Saturday.

The Scottish midfielder covered every blade of grass, blocked passes and shots with just about every part of his anatomy and was at the foundation of most of United’s moves attacking moves.

Fletcher’s performances this season, and last, point to a maturing player reaching his footballing peak. Still underrated by some outside Old Trafford, United fans know the Scot’s value and regularly showed their appreciation at his every lung-bursting run.

Surprisingly, Sky gave the Man of the Match award to Rooney, who Sir Alex thinks will gladly hand over the bottle of champagne.

“I think Wayne will give it to him!” the manager said with a smile. “Darren was the outstanding performer on the field. He really was outstanding. He always does well on these big occasions because he’s a big-game player.”

Rooney added: “I’ve said many times, forwards score goals and tend to get the man of the match award,” said Wayne. “But Fletch was head and shoulders above anyone else on the pitch.”

United have been boosted by news that Owen Hargreaves will return to the club on 23 September as he hopefully nears the end of a year-long injury hell.

The midfielder hasn’t played for a year, during which time he’s had operations on both knees to solve his tendonitis problems, so that return date is not his playing comeback.

He’s been doing rehabilitation work in America this summer and United first must assess at what stage he is at in terms of his recovery. Nevertheless, Sir Alex says his impending return is “a great addition to us”.

“We’re in dialogue all the time with Owen and the physio who’s conducting his rehabilitation in America,” the boss said on Friday. “He’ll come with Owen for a week for the change-over so we can jointly understand the treatment and rehabilitation he’s been doing. That’s straightforward.

“The difficulty is getting him back into football work. I say difficult because we’ve not seen him all this time. We’re relying on information we get from the States. We’re certain that his fitness work will be good, we just have to guage the right time to bring him into football training. You don’t have a player out for a year and then just throw him straight into the fire.

“The important thing is to get him back playing to his level, which is a very good level, because he’ll be a great addition to us.”