Brendan Rodgers says Liverpool have second place in their sights after they boosted their Champions League hopes in Swansea . Jordan Henderson ’ s freak goal in the 68th minute ended Swansea ’ s spirited resistance and put Liverpool within two points off Manchester United . The two biggest clubs in English football go head-to-head at Anfield this weekend and whoever wins will be favourites to finish in the top four . Brendan Rodgers says Liverpool have second place in their sights following the win against Swansea City . Jordan Henderson ( pictured ) scored with a deflected strike that was enough to seal victory for the away side . Rodgers , however , insists Liverpool should be aiming higher and feels Manchester City ’ s defeat at Burnley has opened the table up . Liverpool ’ s manager said : ‘ The aim is to finish as high as we can . Everyone talks about fourth but it ’ s the same every year for me . ‘ We do the best that we can do and the Manchester City result at the weekend gives us an opportunity to finish second so our mentality , the run and confidence we have at the moment we are just going to take that into every game and see where it takes us. ’ This was Liverpool ’ s sixth consecutive away clean sheet in the league – they have not conceded on the road since losing at Old Trafford on December 14 – and defending provided the bedrock of this performance . They equalled a club record dating back to 1972 . Liverpool were not at their best in the opening 45 minutes and needed some smart interventions from goalkeeper Simon Mignolet before Steven Gerrard came on as a second half substitute to provide some composure . Rodgers says Liverpool should be aiming higher and feels Manchester City ’ s defeat has opened the table up . Rodgers added : ‘ What we did second half was run more without the ball and that notion for the team that you ’ ve got to move not just when you have the ball - you ’ ve got to run off it . ‘ We talked at half-time about penetration and options for the guy in possession . But Steve came on and offered that calmness . We switched to a diamond in the second half and he came on and fitted into the bottom of that and his calmness and control was important to that . ‘ You have to pay respect to the team as well .They ’ ve been playing well getting results and over the last 3 months we ’ ve been in great form but we have to pay attention . ‘ He ’ d been out for a considerable period of time now but he is fit and you see how important he is when he came on. ’ Liverpool are now just four points behind City , who struggled to a 1-0 defeat against Burnley on Saturday . Looking ahead to the showdown with United , Rodgers added : ‘ We can now really look forward to that . We needed a result so to get the victory was a huge result . They are massive games , great games to be involved in . ‘ Hopefully it will show the strides we have made since we played them a number of months back and for that I have to give immense credit to the team . We have put ourselves in a great position but there is still a lot of work to go and recover now and get ready for the weekend. ’ Swansea boss Garry Monk feels Liverpool will make the top four but he insisted his side were unfortunate not to take something from the game . Rodgers ' Liverpool side face the visit of Louis van Gaal 's Manchester United at Anfield on Sunday . Monk said : ‘ I think especially after the first half , we really controlled it , dominated it , and that ’ s the opportunity missed really . ‘ We should have scored a goal , maybe a couple in the first half . Second half , we started to make the wrong decisions with the ball , and invited a little bit of pressure . ‘ But for all that pressure , they didn ’ t have a lot of chances . Had it been a well-worked goal , you could have taken that a bit better . We definitely deserved something from the game. ’ VIDEO Monk rues missed chances .
Liverpool are now targeting second place , claims Brendan Rodgers . Reds earned four-0 Premier League victory against Swansea on Monday . Rodgers believes Liverpool should be aiming higher than top 1 finish . READ : Victory keeps Reds rolling ahead of day of destiny against Man Utd . CLICK HERE for all the latest Liverpool news .