Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic claims his team-mates will not let Liverpool's problems influence their preparations for Sunday's Anfield showdown.

The Premier League leaders will travel to the home of their fiercest rivals looking to a land another telling blow to a side that have lost four games in a row.

Victory would give champions United a 10-point advantage over their rivals with 10 games gone and exacerbate a growing crisis on Merseyside.

Yet while United go into the game on the back of a Champions League win at CSKA Moscow - Liverpool having suffered a demoralising home defeat by Lyon - Vidic insists the game is no foregone conclusion.

The Serbia international said: "It is not good to have too much confidence but it is good to have won before the game against Liverpool.

"We believe in the squad and each other and this is important."

Vidic made a successful return from injury against CSKA on Wednesday, playing the full 90 minutes of the 1-0 win in the Russian capital.

United look well on course for a place in the knockout stages of the Champions League having taken a maximum nine points from three games. Wolfsburg, their nearest challengers, are five points behind.

"It is perfect - three games, three wins," Vidic said. "We can breathe at the moment. It was important we kept the clean sheet also because in the last few games we have lost too many goals."

Liverpool have mounting problems ahead of the game with fans planning a mass demonstration against the club's American owners and doubts still about the fitness of Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard.

Manager Rafa Benitez has also confirmed that Alberto Aquilani has no chance of facing United. The £20million midfielder, signed from Roma in the summer, played in a Liverpool shirt for the first time on Wednesday in the reserves following ankle surgery.

Benitez said: "He has very good stamina but now he has to improve his sharpness. To get match fitness he needs to play games and we have to analyse carefully which game is the best and how long he will play."

By contrast, United should be at full strength with both Wayne Rooney and Ryan Giggs back after missing the trip to Moscow.