Pepe Reina has insisted that he is not to blame for Liverpool’s failure in big games this season, despite his error costing the Reds against Manchester City on Sunday.

The Spaniard insists he is not concerned by his form, although the Anfield club have been linked with a name of other goalkeeping options, with Brendan Rodgers reportedly happy to sell Reina to Arsenal amid interest from the Emirates Stadium.

Liverpool are currently nine points off the top four, but have failed to win a game against any top-half side this season, and Reina admits the Reds cannot compete with the Premier League’s top sides.

“I think with the likes of City, United and Chelsea, they have a big edge over us at the moment, both financially and squad-wise,” he told Marca.

“There’s a reason they are so many points ahead of us, and it’s not because of one or two better players. Right now we can’t compete with the big guns.

“Some people say I’ve had a bad season, but honestly I think I only had three poor matches, at the beginning of the year.

“It’s been a strange season for me because I’ve missed lots of games with injury. This has been the most unsettled season, both personally and as a team, since I joined the club.

“Liverpool is going through a transitional period, with new ideas and a different playing philosophy. That takes time. People have to be patient. It’s normal for us to be erratic.”

As well as interest from Arsenal, Reina has also been mentioned as a replacement for Victor Valdes, who is set to leave Barcelona ahead of his contract expiring in 2014, but the 30-year-old is not interested in such rumours.

“I have a Liverpool contract and I’m only thinking of playing for the club – I am calm,” he explained.

“My dad has a past with Barca, he has affection for the club and perhaps that’s why he said it. He wants the best for me. But I have a contract here and I have nothing else to say this.

“For me, Barca is the best in the world, for greatness and for style … and Atletico are starting to equip themselves well, with a great coach. They are two great clubs. They are the two clubs where my father played and two great teams.”

Liverpool have stated that there has been “no contact” from Europol, the European Union’s criminal investigation arm, who have reportedly included the Reds’ 1-0 Champions League group stage win over Hungarian outfit Debrecen in an investigation into match-fixing.

Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet claimed the 2009 fixture at Anfield is one of the matches under investigation, but stressed that no accusation has been leveled at Liverpool.

But a spokeperson for the Anfield club confirmed to Goal.com that neither Europol nor Uefa have yet made contact with them regarding the matter.

The report in Ekstra Bladet claimed Serbian goalkeeper Vukasin Poleksic was approached by fixers intending to rig the betting market for total goals in the fixture, though that ultimately failed as Debrecen only conceded one goal, courtesy of Dirk Kuyt’s winner.

Liverpool are understood to be uninvolved in the accusations and no one at the club is alleged to have acted improperly.

Poleksic was also involved in another match that German police had established was fixed – Debrecen’s 4-3 loss to Fiorentina in the same Champions League campaign. Poleksic was later banned for two years by Uefa for failing to report the approach from a Croatian-led criminal gang. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) later upheld the ban after Poleksic claimed innocence.

Europol are investigating 380 suspicious matches in 15 countries, though director Rob Wainwright refused to identify the match in question because of “ongoing judicial procedures”.

However the Ekstra Bladet report identifies the Liverpool versus Debrecen game and claims that text messages obtained by the police from those behind the match-fixing ring lamented missed opportunities from Steven Gerrard that would have made the margin of victory larger.

Jonjo Shelvey has commended Liverpool for giving young British talent an opportunity in the Premier League.

Eight players from the Anfield club were called up to England’s senior and Under-21 squads for this week’s internationals before Daniel Sturridge and Raheem Sterling were forced to withdraw.

Shelvey told reporters: “I think Liverpool looks like it’s on an up with British players, hopefully we can keep producing them,” Shelvey told reporters.

“There were meant to be five of us in the Under-21s and obviously there are three of them in the senior squad, but Sturridge pulled out.”

Ahead of the Under-21 clash with Sweden on Tuesday, the Liverpool midfielder is glad to have the opportunity of first-team action again following a spell out of Brendan Rodgers’ side.

“I felt good today. It was nice to get back to St. George’s Park and get back training again,” he added to the FA’s official website.

“I’ve not played so much for Liverpool so I’d like to get some minutes under my belt.

“That’s up to the gaffer here to pick me. Fingers crossed he does, and hopefully I get get a goal as well.”