Steven Gerrard: Arsenal's title hunt can help Liverpool in Europe

Apr 1 2008 by Ian Doyle, Liverpool Daily Post

STEVEN GERRARD believes Champions League-chasing Liverpool can capitalise on Arsenal’s renewed hope of winning the championship.

The 10-man Gunners fought back from 2-0 down to earn a remarkable 3-2 win at Bolton Wanderers on Saturday and keep pace with Premier League front-runners Manchester United and Chelsea.

Attentions now turn to the Europe tomorrow night when Liverpool visit the Emirates Stadium for the first leg of their all-English Champions League quarter-final.

And Gerrard reckons Arsenal’s continued interest on two fronts could work as an advantage to Liverpool, whose failed title challenge means they can concentrate on the European Cup.

“If Arsenal hadn’t beaten Bolton, maybe they’d have only had one thing to play for this season and that could have made it more difficult for us,” said the Liverpool skipper.

“But with them still having half a chance in the league, maybe that could distract them a bit.

“Before the draw was made, we’d have been looking to get a team from Europe rather than another from the Premier League.

“But you get what you are given and to win the European Cup you have to beat the best.

“When we won it in 2005, we had to beat all the best teams to win it and I’m sure we’re going to have to do that again if we want to win it this season.”

Liverpool and Arsenal scored impressive scalps in the first knockout round by eliminating Milan sides Inter and AC respectively.

The Anfield outfit were knocked out of both the League Cup and FA Cup by Arsene Wenger’s side last season and have yet to win at Arsenal during Benitez’s tenure.

But having reached two of the last three Champions League finals, Gerrard insists Liverpool have the confidence to progress.

“We’re a good side in Europe and we’re always confident no matter who we come up against that we are going to qualify,” he said.

“I think the other teams are more worried about us because we’ve proved in the last two or three years that we’re one of the best teams in the competition.

“We’ve got nothing to fear. We just need to go there and give it our best shot.”

In between tomorrow’s first leg and next Tuesday’s return at Anfield, the teams clash again at the Emirates in the league.

But Gerrard added: “The Champions League games against Arsenal are going to be different to the league game we have there.

“We found the Champions League games we had against Chelsea were different to the Premier League games, with it being a cup competition and not for three points.

“But we know we are in for two really tough games.”

Liverpool go into the game in confident mood after opening up a five-point gap on Everton in the race for fourth place with derby victory over their neighbours on Sunday.

“It had been a difficult week, having to swallow the defeat we had at Manchester United,” said Gerrard. “But Sunday was all about bouncing back and making sure we could take a positive into Wednesday’s game at Arsenal.

“After a big derby win the fans are happy and the players are happy. We know it will be a really tough game on Wednesday but now we will be going into the game with confidence.

“Our aim now is to consolidate this fourth position and go all the way to Moscow. That’s our focus.”