The Anfield boss knows full well his hugely-expensive squad is standing on the edge of a financial disaster if the Reds fail to dispatch Standard Liege on Wednesday.

Having only drawn 0-0 in the third qualifying round first leg a fortnight ago in Belgium, the possibility of a failure to progress into the Champions League proper is staring the club full in the face.

Benitez admits the Belgian champions are the most difficult opponents Liverpool have ever faced in a Champions League qualifier, and Liege have arrived here full of confidence.

They have started their league campaign with two wins and sit back on top of their domestic league.

And having given Liverpool a fearful hounding in the first leg, they, not surprisingly, fancy their chances of a major upset.

Benitez knows there is no room for error against Liege second time around.

The immediate loss would be around £12million of UEFA prize money, but the body blow to the club's finances and status in Europe would be one maybe even Benitez would not survive.

But he said: "I am not even considering the option of Liverpool not qualifying for the group stages, I am just thinking about winning.

"My concern now is to improve how we play, we can play better. Liege were good in the first leg, but we were really poor.

"If we improve and play at our real level it will be very difficult for them.

"Liege are probably the hardest opponents we have faced in the Champions League qualifiers. But we know we are better than them, even though they played well in the first leg.

"At Anfield we are confident we can win and I expect us to win. The key is to be calm and have confidence in your team and the ability of your players. We have the players who can win this type of game.

"Whatever happens it will not really disrupt my transfer plans, we are so close to the end of the window things will not change.

"But yes, I am aware of the financial implications of Liverpool not qualifying. Money is really important, but that is always the situation in football."

He added: "The key is to do the right things, have confidence and then we will not be thinking about such things as not qualifying. I am confident that will not be the case.

"We are used to the pressure. From the first game of the season we are always under pressure, we have to win.

"That is nothing new about this club, or any other at the top. But my aim is to work on improving the team and the way we play, the team have shown a winning mentality when they have now been playing well so for me there is no need to push the players harder, they know what is required."

Benitez goes into this severe test of his management skills with a string of transfer possibilities surrounding the club.

Albert Riera, the former Manchester City loan player, is believed to have favoured Liverpool ahead of Everton, who have offered his current club Espanyol more for the player.

There are also the futures of Xabi Alonso, Jermaine Pennant, Sami Hyypia and Steve Finnan very much up for discussion.

But Benitez believes everyone at the club will be concentrating on the job in hand.

He said: "I am looking for improvement in everything after the performance in Liege. We must improve in set-pieces and in open play, we played a bad game in the first leg.

"It may have been a bit of a shock for the players, when you know very little about your opponents.

"But now we understand a lot about them, so it will be easier to concentrate and not to make mistakes.

"You never know what will happen, but really we have a lot of confidence that we will go through.

"Everyone will be concentrating on this match, what happens afterwards is for the future.

"I will not be moving anyone on today or tomorrow. We are just concentrating on the game and maybe improving the squad if possible.

"I was disappointed with the performance in Liege, and yes, we have not been at our best in the two league games since then. But if you can win games like we have when you are not playing well, that is something positive.

"So I have confidence we will improve in how we play, and that we will continue winning."

Liverpool have no major injury worries ahead of Wednesday's game. Skipper Steven Gerrard, although considered still to not be 100% fit after his groin problem, will lead the side.

Javier Mascherano and Lucas, who have only just returned from the Olympics, will not be involved, but Ryan Babel - who returned earlier from Beijing - will be in the squad.