The Anfield boss watched his side lose at the Emirates but he remains confident that they have what it takes to qualify for next year’s Champions League

Brendan Rodgers still believes his Liverpool side can finish in the top four of the Premier League this season in spite of Saturday’s 2-0 defeat to Arsenal.

The Reds missed the chance to overtake the Gunners at the top of the Premier League on Saturday, as goals from midfielders Santi Cazorla and Aaron Ramsey inspired Arsene Wenger’s side to victory.

The Anfield outfit had been mentioned as title contenders following a strong start to the season, but Rodgers’ ambitions are more conservative.

“I think what we can see is that my players have been brilliant in this opening period,” he told Sky Sports.

“I think we’re going to be in with a shout. We’ll be in with a fighting chance of that top four and that’s what we’re aiming to do.”

Luis Suarez and Philippe Coutinho both had chances to mount a comeback at the Emirates Stadium, but Rodgers did not believe his side deserved anything from the game.

He added: “I thought that the best team won; they had a greater control of the game. We still had chances.

“Their mobility and passing was better than ours; we could have done better with the two goals. We’re disappointed: we never pressed the ball well enough; we were never tight enough.

“We kept going all night; the players have been brilliant in their application of the game. We created chances but just couldn’t put the ball in the net.”

The Gunners boss was enthused by what he felt was a deserved win over the Reds, but he was reluctant to talk up his side’s title changes

Arsene Wenger believes Arsenal are growing in confidence after Saturday’s 2-0 win over Liverpool saw them move five points clear at the top of the Premier League.

Santi Cazorla opened the scoring after 19 minutes, before Aaron Ramsey rounded things off with a fine volley from the edge of the area just before the hour mark.

Wenger’s men have not won the Premier League since going the entire season unbeaten in 2003-04, but the French coach believes their current position will be good for morale.

“It’s positive and nice [to be five points clear], but it’s very early in the season,” he told Sky Sports.

“It’s good for the confidence of the team and for the ambition as well.”

The result made it nine league games without defeat for Arsenal, who were knocked out of the Capital One Cup by title rivals Chelsea on Tuesday.

Wenger was pleased with the response to that loss, expressing his delight with the manner of his team’s win.

“It was a convincing win against a good team, which is what we wanted,” he added. “We responded well to losing in midweek.

“We got a good goal and, after that, I felt we had many opportunities. Ramsey scored a stunning goal.

“I felt we had very convincing defensive performance against top strikers, we kept them quiet, [which is a] great credit for our defence.”