Liverpool treadmill primed for cup runs

In playing their 20th cup tie of the season tonight, their third quarter-final and their 47th game overall, Liverpool are re-discovering as a club that success is a treadmill. If anything shows just how far they have come under Gerard Houllier toward recapturing the glory of the 1970s and 1980s, then the visit of FC Porto to Anfield this evening offers more running evidence. For clubs set on trophies, this is the relentless stage of the season.

Having already won a League Cup semi-final against Crystal Palace, and secured an FA Cup semi-final with Wycombe Wanderers, Liverpool will guarantee a third semi-final appearance of the season if they beat Porto by the narrowest of margins. After the 0-0 in a downpour in Portugal last Thursday, the driest of home victories would suffice.

Then it's Derby County at home on Sunday, after that an international break, when most of Houllier's squad will be shunting around Europe, and then when they return it is to host Manchester United in the Premiership. A place in next season's Champions League is still a priority. No-one said it was going to be easy.

Still, it's better than sitting on a beach, or at least it is to Houllier. As he said yesterday: "I would prefer to be playing every three days rather than going to Malta like we had to do last season because we had nothing else to do." Indeed. For Houllier and his players all of this springtime activity is a reward, not a punishment, and he was understandably dismissive of those who look at the possible negative effects of so many games in such a short time.

"We have taken every competition extremely seriously, every game the same," he said. "We want to win everything."

Should Liverpool do so - and without replays - they will have played one more game, 63, than Manchester United did during their Treble year, but Houllier is reluctant to use tiredness as a pre-emptive excuse for any potential stumble. He has after all amassed a squad that amounts to two Premiership teams of at least 11 interchangeable positions.

On Sunday, after the 4-2 defeat of Tranmere Rovers in the FA Cup, Houllier made a point of mentioning the fact that seven of those in red were Englishmen and as he elaborated on the theme yesterday, he said: "When you tell them they are tired, it is an insult - particularly when you are talking about the English. They are used to playing every three days. There is no need even to discuss so-called tiredness, so we don't mention it.

"I know we had to play a cup final two and a half days after the Roma game in the last round but I think it is better to have games on our plate than to do nothing for three days. Tiredness is the one word that has been banned from our camp. And I have not even heard one player mention the word, which is a good sign."

Even Steven Gerrard, who seems to have difficulty playing two games in a week sometimes, thinks he will be fresh and fit for this evening. Having been one of the four (English) scorers against Tranmere, Gerrard will be a welcome sight on the team-sheet. All the more so, given Nicky Barmby is definitely out with an injured ankle. Emile Heskey and Stephane Henchoz have doubts about their readiness.

Gerrard will need to be a controlling influence in midfield, for while the goal-less draw last week was admirable, Houllier knows it leaves Liverpool vulnerable to the away goal. "We have to show shrewdness from a tactical point of view," he said. Attack will have to laced with caution.

But not too much, and perhaps it is the task of Liverpool finding the right balance that provoked the Porto manager Fernando Santos into saying, optimistically: "We still have an excellent chance of going through. They will have to attack at Anfield and they only defended in the first leg. That's where we can catch them."

Porto will have to jump onto the Anfield treadmill first.