Rafa keen to find right balance

At the same point last season Pepe Reina had been beaten just twice.
 
However, the Spaniard doesn't want to risk damaging the potent attacking threat which has seen the Reds find the net 16 times already.
 
That haul represents the club’s best tally at the start of a campaign for 19 years.
 
Liverpool have scored three goals or more in 12 of their last 16 league games – including 28 in their last eight at Anfield.
 
Benitez is rightly proud of his side’s goal rush and wants more of the same against struggling Hull at Anfield today. 
 
"Before people were saying ‘you are really good in defence but you have to score more goals'," he said.
 
“Now we are scoring goals but also conceding some and people are saying we are letting in too many - you can't win! 
 
"The key to a winning team is getting a balance. We had this before when we were able to both defend and attack well. If we can do that again it will be a big boost. 
 
"Anyway I prefer to score more goals. It’s easier to improve things at the back than improve things going forward."

Benitez insists Liverpool's goal spree isn’t down to any tactical changes. 
 
"We've not changed the system," he said. 
 
"But the statistics show we are the team with the most possession in the league. We've had more possession in the final third than anyone else and that proves we are attacking more than last year. 
 
"We are doing really well not only because we have good strikers but because the mentality of the team going forward is really good. 
 
"Glen Johnson likes to go forward all the time, while Yossi Benayoun, Dirk Kuyt and Steven Gerrard are also going forward a lot. 
 
"It's not because we've changed anything. Maybe it's because we are playing with more offensive players. 
 
"But it’s not because we're playing higher or playing with three strikers. 
 
"It's just because as a team we have more confidence.
 
"When we do go forward we have more players who are comfortable with the ball and can creat more chances."
 
Dirk Kuyt is one of those players clearly relishing Liverpool's positive approach.
 
The Dutchman has netted eight goals in his last 12 appearances to help ease the burden on Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres. 
 
"Kuyt has always been really important for us," Benitez said. "His work rate is excellent but he is also a player with real quality. 
 
"His movement is very good and although sometimes his first touch isn't the best, he is a player who is always involved in the game. 
 
"He has a lot of situations where he can receive the ball in a very good position and he has shown he can also finish. 
 
"His teammates are very happy with him because Kuyt is a player who never lets you down. 
 
"The goals he has scored are very important. People talked about us as a two-man team so for others like Kuyt to score is good. The more players we have doing well the tougher it will be for defenders." 
 
Benitez is keen to avoid a repeat of last December's clash with Hull when the Tigers raced into an early 2-0 lead.
 
Gerrard's double dragged the Reds level before the break but they couldn’t find a winner and two priceless points were dropped.
 
Since then Phil Brown's side have been in freefall.
 
They won just one of their last 22 league games last season and only avoided relegation by a point.
 
This season has started in a similar vein with Hull taking just four points from their six games and crashing out of the Carling Cup to Everton.
 
It should be a formality at Anfield today but Benitez is wary. 
 
"We have to respect them," he added. 
 
"Hull were really good last year. They played well with a lot of confidence and were dangerous on the counter-attack and from set-pieces. 
 
"We cannot approach the game thinking it will be easy. 
 
"We have to perform at a high level because we know very game in the Premier League is very difficult. 
 
"We cannot make the kind of mistakes at the beginning of the game that we did against them at Anfield last season."