BR: We must perform well at Arsenal
Brendan Rodgers insists Liverpool will head into Saturday's Barclays Premier League clash against Arsenal fully recovered from the frustrations of the Manchester United game.
The Reds have had an international break to reflect on the defeat last time out and will travel to London looking to achieve a positive result and improve their chances of closing the gap to the top four.
Rodgers believes his side must produce a performance at the Emirates Stadium that matches those prior to the United loss, when his team went on an unbeaten run of 13 Premier League games.
"We'll be going there looking forward to the game and really motivated to get back to winning again," the manager said at his pre-match press conference.
"We've had a long two weeks, it's probably one of the few games where after the international break we've had to suffer a little bit, because we didn't perform and lost, but there is extra motivation there to get something from the game and that is something that we clearly want to achieve.
"These final eight games are going to be exciting games and there is still every possibility for us to make the top four.
"We've made it difficult for ourselves because of our last performance and result, but it's certainly achievable. In the last eight games you get the opportunity to finish the season very well.
"Over the course of the last three months, apart from the last game, we've performed very well and we have got results. I think people might look at it as a must-win game.
"For me, it is a must-perform game, we want to perform well and we know that when we do that we've got every chance of winning, whether that's at home or away."
The Northern Irishman continued: "Our possession wasn't good enough in our last game.
"The key for us in the first half against Manchester United was that we didn't keep the ball well enough and, positionally, we were never in position to receive the ball and press the ball.
"We've talked about that, we've analysed that and we've worked on that; in order for us to maximise how we've been working we need to keep the ball better and be technically better.
"That's a huge part of our game, and it's Arsenal's game. But for us, we'll go there and tactically we are very clear on the idea of the game and we need to get something from the game, that's clear.
"But that was the same before we played the Manchester United game, Arsenal was a game that we wanted to ensure that we got at least a point from and that will be the case at the weekend."