Man United don’t set Liverpool’s benchmark, insists Brendan Rodgers

Brendan Rodgers doesn’t believe Manchester United set the benchmark for Liverpool ahead of their trip to Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

The Reds, who finished in seventh position last season, are currently 11 points clear of sixth-placed United after making staggering progress over the past 18 months since Rodgers succeeded Kenny Dalglish in the Anfield hot seat.

The benchmark of this brilliant club is about being the best. It isn’t about Manchester United

Brendan Rodgers

The English top-flight’s most decorated clubs have experienced vastly contrasting fortunes this season, with Liverpool contending for the title and the Red Devils facing the possibility of no European football.

But Liverpool manager Rodgers is adamant that the Reds are focused on their exploits and not United’s demise ahead of the north-west derby.

“Our focus is only on Liverpool,” Rodgers told his pre-match media conference.

“The benchmark of this brilliant club is about being the best. It isn’t about Manchester United. This club over many years has been about being the best domestically and in Europe.

“The club decided to go a certain way 18 months ago and I came in to continue the brilliant work Kenny had done. We’ve just continued down the road and seen our development improvement.

“For us, there is still a long way where we want to be.”

Rodgers stressed that United remain a dangerous side despite their poor form, with the likes of Michael Carrick, Wayne Rooney and Nemanja Vidic all “serial winners”.

“They’re the champions and they’ve got players who are serial winners there. We’re only concentrating on ourselves. They’ve got great players there,” added Rodgers.

“They’ve got top players but I don’t know the dressing room well enough to understand where they are at.”