Skipper Steven Gerrard, Jose Reina, Javier Mascherano, Alvaro Arbeloa and Fabio Aurelio all return to the squad.

Boss Rafael Benitez only has defender Daniel Agger and striker Andriy Voronin on the injured list at Anfield.

Inter are without the banned Cesar and injured Luis Jimenez, while they must decide on the fitness of Luis Figo.

• Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez:
"You do not need to say too much to the players in this competition, because they know how important it is.

"We must keep going, thinking about the Champions League and fourth place in the league.

"We must progress as far as we can in Europe and make sure we are fourth, at least."

Liverpool (from): Reina, Arbeloa, Carragher, Hyypia, Aurelio, Babel, Gerrard, Mascherano, Riise, Torres, Kuyt, Crouch, Skrtel, Kewell, Benayoun, Pennant, Alonso, Lucas, Itandje.

BIG MATCH STATS

The only European encounters between Liverpool and Inter Milan came in the semi-finals of the 1964-65 Champions Cup.

Liverpool won 3-1 at Anfield on 4 May 1965, only to lose 3-0 in the return leg eight days later.

European history

Liverpool have won the Champions Cup/Champions League five times (1977, 1978, 1981, 1984 and 2005). The Reds finished runners-up last season, after losing the final 2-1 against AC Milan. They have also won three Uefa Cups (1973, 1976 and 2001).

Inter won the Champions Cup in 1964 and 1965, the Uefa Cup in 1991, 1994 and 1998 and two Intercontinental Cups in 1964 and 1965. Internazionale's best CL performance is reaching the 2002-03 semi-final which they lost to AC Milan. In 1998-99, 2004-05 and 2005-06, Inter were eliminated in the CL quarter-finals by Manchester United, AC Milan and Villarreal respectively.

Current European form

Liverpool have won their last three Champions League matches, two of which were at home. The last time Liverpool failed to win in CL competition was on 24 October 2007 at Besiktas (2-1).

Inter have won their last five Champions League matches.

Player and disciplinary info

Jamie Carragher (Liverpool) will be suspended on receiving another yellow card.

Steven Gerrard is Liverpool's top scorer in this season's CL with four goals. Gerrard has scored a total of 10 CL goals, the most by any player in the current Liverpool squad.

Jose Reina and Jamie Carragher have started and completed all of Liverpool's CL matches this season.

Inter Milan's Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo are joint top scorers in this season's CL with five goals.

Julio Cesar has started and completed all of Internazionale's CL matches this season.

Other miscellaneous facts

Internazionale are one goal short of scoring 500 in European competition; Liverpool two shy of that mark.

Inter need to score five goals to reach 100 in the Champions League main tournament.

Liverpool are fifth in the Premier League, 19 points behind leaders Arsenal. They were knocked out of the FA Cup by Barnsley of the Championship 1-2 at home on Saturday. The Champions League provides Rafa Benitez with his only remaining realistic chance of silverware this season.

Internazionale beat Livorno 2-0 on Saturday, with both goals scored by David Suazo. They have stretched their Serie A lead to 11 points following Roma's 1-0 loss at Juventus. Inter have lost only two matches this season in all competitions.

Definitions of terms used:-

Champions League (CL) - only group phase matches and beyond of this competition which began in 1992-93.
Champions Cup/Champions League - all matches played since it began in 1955-56 including qualification matches.
European matches - all matches played in the major European tournaments (Fairs Cup, Uefa Cup, Cup Winners' Cup, Champions Cup, Champions League).
Uefa Super Cups, Intertoto Cups and the old Intercontinental Cup competition are excluded.

Big Match Stats source: Infostrada Sports

(BBC)

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