Brendan Rodgers Warns Liverpool To Respect Lower Teams

Brendan Rodgers believes Manchester City’s faltering title challenge will serve as a warning against complacency to Liverpool when they take their pursuit of the Premier League to struggling Norwich City on Sunday.

Liverpool’s prospects of a first title win since 1990 were enhanced on Wednesday when the club with the biggest wage in world sport were held to a 2-2 draw at home by bottom-of-the-table Sunderland. The result left City six points adrift of the league leaders having played one game fewer. On the same night Rodgers watched Crystal Palace damage Everton’s Champions League aspirations with a 3-2 win at Goodison Park that effectively secured their Premier League status.

Both results shaped the Liverpool manager’s address to his squad at Melwood on Thursday. “I said to the players before we started training this morning that if there was doubt about our rivals dropping points, then they should also take last night’s results as a warning sign,” he said.

“It was a warning sign for everyone that, at this point of the season with four games to go, there is nothing guaranteed and I have said that all the way along. Crystal Palace had an excellent result and Sunderland were within minutes of getting a great victory. That was the biggest message I got from last night. Yes, one of our rivals might have dropped points but that is irrelevant. You have to do your own job. The warning signs are there.”

Norwich are fourth bottom and two points clear of Fulham ahead of Neil Adams’ first game as manager at Carrow Road since replacing the sacked Chris Hughton last week.

“When you’re so close to the finishing line you can maybe think that the job can be done and is done,” he said. “Teams can look that they are playing teams towards the bottom of the league and that those games might be easy, but actually it’s the contrast – they can be even more difficult. People are fighting for their livelihoods, fighting for their lives, fighting for their children, fighting for the supporters. And they’re fighting to play in the best league in the world. That is the nuts and bolts of it.”

Liverpool’s biggest threat for the title now comes from José Mourinho’s Chelsea, who visit Anfield a week on Sunday, but Rodgers insists the potential Premier League decider has not entered his thoughts.

“We haven’t even thought about Chelsea. We’ve been brilliant in the big games this season – Man United, Tottenham, Arsenal, Man City – but it is about Norwich and that’s it.”

Liverpool will be without the suspended Jordan Henderson at Carrow Road while Daniel Sturridge is a doubt for the game due to a slight hamstring strain. Rodgers said: “It’s not too serious, it’s not going to keep him out for too many weeks, but he may be a risk for the weekend. We’ll assess it more over the next couple of days. Fortunately Daniel recovers very quickly.”