Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez refuses to speak publicly about the prospect of a genuine Premiership challenge this season.

The Sunday Express says privately Benitez is convinced that his current squad, boosted by their summer reinforcements, is capable of launching - and sustaining - a realistic challenge.

But the last thing he wants to do is talk publicly on the subject, which would pile even more pressure on his expensively-assembled underachievers to finally deliver.

He said: "Hopefully we can get closer this time.

"Nobody at Valencia ever spoke about it and we won La Liga twice.

"The idea is to do the same here."