John Arne Riise has warned his Liverpool teammates that patience will be the key to their chances of overturning a 1-0 deficit in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final against Chelsea at Anfield tonight.
Chelsea go into the clash as favorites to progress to next month's final in Athens on the back of the narrow advantage they earned through Joe Cole's winner at Stamford Bridge last week.
But Liverpool's Norwegian defender is confident that the Reds can repeat their triumph over the London club at the same stage of the competition two years ago, despite being outplayed in the first leg.
PHOTO: AP
Chelsea might easily have added to Cole's winner last Wednesday, but they can scarcely expect that fact to be taken into consideration when they run out at Anfield, where they were beaten 2-0 in a Premiership clash earlier this year.
The home crowd will expect nothing less than an all-out assault on the Chelsea goal, but Liverpool also know that an away goal for opponents who are adept on the counter attack is likely to be fatal.
"We know we're going to have to score and it would help if we can get an early goal," said Riise, one of the few survivors from the Liverpool squad that beat AC Milan in the final on penalties two years ago.
"We didn't create many chances on Tuesday [at Chelsea], but we performed better in the second half and at home we know we can get forward and score goals.
"We need a good start. If we get that, with the crowd behind us, it means it could be game on. It's also important to be patient and be careful to give nothing away.
"Two years ago it was unbelievable and it can be the same again."
Liverpool know they must be wary of the threat posed by Didier Drogba, the Ivory Coast striker who set up Cole for his first-leg winner.
"He's as strong as a bull, he works hard and he scores goals," Riise said. "It's very difficult to play against him."
Drogba's physical presence has repeatedly given Liverpool's defense serious problems and it was his run and pass which created the opening for Cole to score in the first leg.
But the big striker will be walking a disciplinary tightrope on Tuesday night -- a yellow card would mean he misses the final should Chelsea progress.
Chelsea still have a chance of claiming four pieces of silverware this season, but the weekend's Premiership results have seriously compromised their chances of a third straight league title.
That should ensure that Mourinho will need to do little to get his side in the right frame of mind for their task here, but the cause has not been helped by the loss of centerback Ricardo Carvalho.
Chelsea's best defender this season is destined to spend the summer recovering from a knee injury after limping out of Saturday's 2-2 draw with Bolton Wanderers, while Michael Ballack will also be missing following surgery last week.
Michael Essien is available again however after missing the first leg through suspension and could be asked to fill the gap left by Carvalho's injury.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was