Portsmouth-Liverpool Preview

Mar 13, 2010 - 12:05 PM MARK HENDRY STATS European Football Writer=

LONDON (SE) - Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez has criticised his under-achieving players ahead of Monday's Premier League clash with bottom club Portsmouth at Anfield.

It is a match Liverpool would normally be expected to win but such has been their unpredictable form that Benitez felt compelled to make his unhappiness public.

Liverpool go in search for fourth place in the Premier League, which is almost a disappointment by their high standards, but they could finish as low as seventh.

Manchester City, Tottenham and Aston Villa all believe they too can finish fourth and snatch the final automatic place in next season's Champions League.

Liverpool have failed to score in their last two matches, losing 1-0 at Wigan and by the same score to Lille in the Europa League this week.

Benitez said: "Our results have not been consistent enough. This club expects success and we have not been able to deliver it as we have done in previous years.

"The players know what is expected of them and we cannot afford many more slips between now and the end of the season."

Benitez hopes to have Israel midfield player Yossi Benayoun available after an ankle injury kept him at home while his team-mates were losing to Lille.

Maxi Rodriguez was not eligible for the Lille match but he is in contention for a place although Fabio Aurelio is a definite non-starter.

Liverpool's problems are nothing compared to those being encountered by Portsmouth who are in administration and seemingly doomed to relegation.

They have managed to glean a mere 19 points and they could well have lost nine of those by the time the match kicks off.

The Premier League will meet Pompey representatives on Monday and dock them the nine points for going into administration.

The club's chief executive Peter Storrie resigned on Friday, claiming he had been made a scapegoat for debts now thought to top 84 million pounds, and 85 non-playing staff were fired in a cost-cutting measure.

Through it all manager Avram Grant has steered Portsmouth to a Wembley semi final in the FA Cup after last week's 2-0 win over Birmingham.

But even if Portsmouth were to win the trophy, the 1.8 million pounds prize money would make little impression on the overall debt.

Grant said: "The uncertainty over the club's future has had a detrimental affect on the players and the staff. We cannot ignore the crisis around us.

"We tell the players that the league has not taken away nine points yet to keep them motivated.

"We can still get out of trouble but we need to know what will happen for sure."

Ricardo Rochas, sent off in successive matches, is available again after a two-match ban but may have to wait for his chance to return.

Tommy Smith, Antony vanden Borre and Aaron Mokoena are available after injury but key midfield player Kevin-Prince Boateng is still in Germany receiving treatment for an ankle problem.