Kenny Dalglish's back-Rafa plea shows Liverpool are getting desperate

By Steve Anglesey in Laptop with Martin Lipton

Published 15:33 23/10/09

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You know the pressure is on when a club wheels out a legend to urge support for the beleaguered manager and so Kenny Dalglish's plea to the Liverpool fans to get behind Rafa Benitez and the players against Manchester United must come in its proper context.

As the last manager to lead the Merseysiders to the title, back in 1990 - and as the most likely fall-back caretaker option if the Benitez reign comes to an early end - King Kenny knows what makes the club tick.

It has been hard enough for Liverpool fans to see Scouser Wayne Rooney pushing his dedication to the Old Trafford cause in their faces but you can only imagine the reaction should Michael Owen pop up with the winning goal at Anfield.

That thought is doubtless working its way around the mind of Sir Alex Ferguson and while the United boss has tried to play down expectations from his side's supporters it isn't hard to realise how much pleasure dropping Benitez deeper into the nasty stuff would give the Scot.

What is clear is that the level of Anfield disquiet at how things are going both on and off the pitch is rising and even the Dalglish intervention will not prevent the protest march planned for before the game .

Surprisingly, though, the winner of the rant of the week is neither of the men involved at Anfield on Sunday, but instead Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce, who has launched all his considerable guns in the direction of Republic of Ireland boss Giovanni Trapattoni .

The reality is that Allardyce has two hopes of getting a retraction from "Trap" - and Bob just left town!

Allardyce hopes he can add to Chelsea's recent defensive woes tomorrow, although judging by the way Blackburn operated at the back the last time they came to the capital he might consider trying to find a way of getting the team bus inside the stadium and in front of Paul Robinson's net.

But if there is a decent bet out there for the weekend, then it might be James Beattie to score at Spurs. The Stoke frontman got off the mark for the season with his double against West Ham last week but Tottenham are his favourite victims.

Beattie has scored seven goals in 16 career appearances against Spurs, including the White Hart Lane double that got Glenn Hoddle the sack in 2003 and his first goal for the Potters last term after his move from Sheffield United.