Liverpool look for killer touch

Ask Roy Evans how his Liverpool team are doing and a careworn look crosses his face. "People who watch us regularly will know we can play better,'' he says, bewildered why his players can flit from destructive to distracted in a matter of seconds. His team, he reckons, are the prime cause of his grey hair.

The Liverpool manager believes a tanker-load of Grecian 2000 could not arrest the effects on his nerves of watching a team whose killer instinct is buried so deep it is barely noticeable, but at least one man believes they will win the championship this season. "I don't think they'll ever have a better chance,'' David Pleat, whose Sheffield Wednesday side travel to Anfield today, said. "Chelsea play the most cultured football in the Premiership, Newcastle give me the most excitement, Arsenal are very tough and Manchester United have some very good players. But I believe Liverpool are the best team.''

Which is hardly encouraging for Wednesday who have lost four of their six away fixtures since their win at Newcastle which had Sheffield anticipating summer from what proved to be an earthbound swallow. On top of that, David Hirst, Wayne Collins and Jon Newsome are out with injury.

Pleat is hopeful and so are Arsenal, who would extend their lead if Liverpool lose and they beat Derby at Highbury. The Gunners are the surprise team of the Premiership, not so much for their results as for their exuberant style which means their supporters no longer have to come out with their allegiance like someone confessing to trainspotting.

Arsenal will be without Dennis Bergkamp, who has not recovered from a thigh strain, and complacency is unlikely to be on the team sheet either if the words of the manager, Arsene Wenger, are anything to go by. "I know this will be a difficult game,'' he said. "I like the look of Derby. They are solid, well-organised and dangerous. Every match gets tougher because we are top.''

Tottenham, who have snatched Arsenal's erstwhile dull mantle, will hope to change both their image and their form with the signing of pounds 2.6m striker Steffen Iverson, who is likely to make his debut against struggling Coventry. A defeat today and White Hart Lane will no longer wonder if it is in crisis.

Iverson, who played in Rosenborg's surprise win over Milan in the Champions' League on Wednesday, had scarcely had time to unpack his bags never mind settle, but an injury to Chris Armstrong has ended any chance of acclimatisation. "At the end of a bad week,'' Gerry Francis, the Spurs manager, said, "this is a real boost. I'm very optimistic things will turn round for us now and a good win at Coventry can make all the difference.''

While Coventry cannot start winning, Wimbledon cannot stop and they will be hopeful of extending their unbeaten run to 18 matches against Sunderland at Roker Park. "It will be as tough as the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool or Aston Villa,'' Joe Kinnear, their manager, said. "Nottingham Forest are bottom of the table but showed against us last Saturday how determined every team is to end our run."

No one would like to end his run more than the Middlesbrough manager, Bryan Robson, who has had his pre-Christmas thoughts turned distinctly unseasonal by 10 Premiership matches without a win and the antics of Emerson. The Brazilian has gone Awol for the third time this season and you could forgive Robson for not wanting anything to do with anyone without a British passport.

He insists otherwise. "When you find a player as good as Emerson it is unfortunate when there are problems.'' he said. "But I've not been put off buying another player.'' Emerson, it goes without saying, will not play today against a Leeds team attempting their fourth win in five matches.