ALBERTO AQUILANI is poised to make his long-awaited Liverpool debut this evening – after admitting to a “difficult” start to his Anfield career.

Aquilani will be on the substitutes’ bench as Rafael Benitez’s side continue their Carling Cup quest with their fourth round clash at Arsenal.

The 25-year-old has yet to appear for the first team following his £20million arrival from Roma in August, having continued his rehabilitation from an ankle operation towards the end of last season.

But Aquilani played 15 minutes for the reserves against Sunderland last week, and Benitez is now planning to hand the Italy international his chance at some stage at the Emirates.

“Alberto will be with us,” said Benitez, who is likely to make a raft of changes this evening. “He is improving his fitness, so he’s in the squad.

“He cannot start at this moment but he will be there and maybe we can give him some minutes. If it’s possible we will try to use him.

“We can see in every training session that he has quality, game intelligence and good movements. He is a different kind of player for us.

“We talk about using Gerrard deeper sometimes, but maybe in Aquilani we have a player who can play there and pass the ball really well in the final third.”

After his arrival, Aquilani was expected to be available a month into the new season until further scans revealed his ankle problem was worse than initially feared.

But the Italian is desperate to begin life properly at his new club, and said: “It was good to play for the reserves because I haven’t played for a long time, but to play for the first team is something different again and I am looking forward to that.

“I really want to play, but I need to be patient - I know the time will come for me.

“I will be very happy when I make my debut. This is my job, it's what I am here to do, and I am looking forward to it.”

Aquilani added: “I want to thank all the players and the people at the club because they have been very helpful to me since I arrived here.