Rafael Benitez has moved to defend his transfer policy against accusations Liverpool are a long way off winning the Premier League (Liverpool 28/1 Premier League outright betting).

The Spaniard insists his squad can cope without one of or both Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres over the course of the season and believes the good times will return on Merseyside once his injured players have returned to action.

Benitez, speaking ahead of the crunch Champions League clash in Lyon (Lyon 11/8, draw 9/4, Liverpool 2/1 match bets), denied claims he had not brought in enough quality since succeeding Gerard Houllier in 2004 and insisted Liverpool are a match for any of their title rivals.

He said: “I do not accept that we have not signed good players, some may not have settled as quickly, but we are doing a good job.”

He added: “This is not the right time to be discussing our signings. But we do have good players, and we have too many injuries.

“We have signed very good players, we have a good team and a good squad.”

Check out Betfred’s Champions League match bets and ante-post football betting.