Both Manchester City and Chelsea have to face the Reds on their own turf before the Premier League title race is settled and the manager only expects their home form to improve

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers is confident that a visit to Anfield will be a daunting prospect for Premier League title rivals Manchester City and Chelsea.

Sunday’s 4-0 thumping of Tottenham sent the Reds top of the table, two points clear of Chelsea and four ahead of City, although they have played two games more than Manuel Pellegrini’s men.

Rodgers’ charges have made Anfield a fortress this season, winning 14 of their 16 matches in the league so far and dropping just five points, and the Northern Irishman expects an advantage in the crucial next two games there, with both heavyweights on the way.

He told reporters: “There’s no doubt that they [City and Chelsea] understand this is going to be a tough place to come.

“We love playing here. The support [against Tottenham] was incredible and that’s only going to intensify as the season goes on. You can see that it works for us rather than against us.

“We respect Chelsea. They’ve got a world-class manager, top players, the squad has been put together over 10 years to win the Champions League and Premier League.

“Manchester City are one of the new superpowers in European football but we feel that we can win any game because we’re a team.

“We may not have the best group of individuals that’s up there – we’ve got world-class players – but we’ve got a lot of hunger in the team and our tactical ideas are improving all the time.”