Liverpool aiming to bounce back at Bridge

SKIPPER Steven Gerrard and young team-mate Lucas have led the call for a vastly improved Liverpool display when they face Chelsea on Sunday in a key Barclays Premier League clash.

The Stamford Bridge showdown will be Liverpool’s first match since their dreadful Champions League display on Tuesday, when they lost 2-0 away to Fiorentina.

Liverpool, after six successive previous victories, know they must bounce back quickly as they face a tough few weeks.

Boss Rafael Benitez should have midfielder Javier Mascherano back from a slight hamstring injury for the trip to west London.

Over the next seven games, Liverpool face Chelsea and Manchester United in the league, Lyon twice in the Champions League, plus a Carling Cup date away to Arsenal.

So Liverpool’s players know they must get their form back on track quickly.

Gerrard said: “We need to get the defeat in Florence out of our system quickly, because we have a massive game now at Chelsea on Sunday.

“What we need at Stamford Bridge is to produce a reaction from this defeat, that has to be the aim now.”

Lucas agreed with his captain, saying: “We must learn from these mistakes and bounce back at Chelsea, we must win there before the international break to boost our confidence.

“Chelsea are in good form at the moment, certainly at home, but we know we can do it if we go there with the right attitude.

“We have the quality to get a win there, that will then improve our confidence in the next two games in the group against Lyon.”

Benitez wants Mascherano in the side at Stamford Bridge. He said: “I expect Javier to be fit for the Chelsea game, he will be ready.

“He was very close to being fit to play in Florence, but he had a slight hamstring problem and could not train in our final session before we left for Italy on Monday, so he could not be risked.”