Greeks aiming to sink Liverpool

OLYMPIACOS coach Dusan Bajevic has vowed his side will not sit back and defend in their crucial Champions League clash with Liverpool tomorrow night.

Liverpool know a 1-0 victory will be good enough to see them through to the knockout phase at Anfield.

However, if the current Greek League leaders score, Liverpool will have to win by two clear goals if they are to finish in the top two in Group A and Rafael Benitez's side have scored just three goals in their five previous games in the competition.

"I didn't want it to come down to a final match with Liverpool, but if we're to progress in this tournament we have to play knock-out," Bajevic said.

"So for us the knock-out phase starts at Liverpool. We will not be going for a goalless draw. That is not our style."

The Greeks know a draw is good enough to guarantee their passage, while they could even afford to lose by 2-1 or 3-2 and still pip Liverpool due to UEFA's qualifying criteria for teams tied on points at the end of a group stage.

Liverpool centre-back Jamie Carragher, meanwhile, is hoping Harry Kewell has finally rediscovered his golden touch and can lift Liverpool's season.

Kewell has come under fire following a number of below-par performances to date, but scored his first goal of the season and his first for nine months in Saturday's 1-1 draw at Aston Villa.

With the Reds short on numbers in attack, although Milan Baros is expected to return against Olympiacos after a five-match absence with a hamstring strain, the goal could be the spark Kewell needs.

"Harry had a great goals record in the first half of last season, but he didn't capitalise on that in the second half of the season," said Carragher. "This season he hasn't started well, but that's his first goal and, hopefully, he can go on and reverse the trend of last season.

"He has taken a bit of stick lately, but his goal will be a great boost to his confidence. Even besides his goal, I thought he played well and it will have been good for him to hear the fans chanting his name again."

Steve Finnan admits the fear of playing in the UEFA Cup will act as a spur.

"We have a lot of respect for the UEFA Cup, but getting to the next stage of the Champions League is what it's all about for us," Finnan told the Liverpool Echo.

"With us getting so close, the lads will be very disappointed if we ended up back in the UEFA Cup.

"We'd just have to get on with it and do our best to win it, but first and foremost we want to stay in the Champions League, not think about anything else."