KEY POINTS:
There is no such thing as a lost cause for Liverpool when it comes to European soccer but even by their standards they have dug a big hole for themselves ahead of tomorrow's Champions League showdown against Porto.
One point from their first three matches in Group A left the five-times European champions with no margin for error, making each of their remaining games must-win affairs.
Besiktas were thumped 8-0 at Anfield in the last round of fixtures, a Champions League record, but group leaders Porto will pose a far greater threat to Liverpool's hopes of reaching the knockout phase.
Liverpool were famously 3-0 down to AC Milan at halftime in the 2005 Champions League final in Istanbul only to claw themselves back to 3-3 and triumph on penalties.
That season they also came through Group A but only after a dramatic night at Anfield where, again needing to score three goals, Steven Gerrard's wonder strike four minutes from time against Olympiakos prevented their elimination.
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez, under pressure after appearing to fall out with the club's American owners, can ill afford his side to crash out this week, but the Spaniard appears to be up for the fight.
"The team has confidence," Benitez said on Liverpool's website this week.
"We know it will be a difficult game because we know Porto are a team with quality so we have to do our job and see if it's possible to play as well as we did against Besiktas.
"I am confident we can do it. We are a team that can play under strain and stress. We have proved that.
"We are playing at Anfield - and we know we need to win to have a chance of progressing. So what we have to do is clear, and I believe we can do it."
Liverpool will need another big performance from Gerrard, who shook off the hangover of his England despair with a majestic display in his side's 3-0 league win at Newcastle United on Sunday.
Predicting who Benitez chooses to score the goals they need is a tough job. Fernando Torres wasted a host of chances on Sunday and could make way for Peter Crouch, who scored twice in the thrashing of Besiktas.
Porto, who lost their only previous match Anfield in 2001, will arrive in confident mood having established a four-point lead at the top of the Portuguese league.
A draw could be sufficient to send them through. Encouragingly for Liverpool, Porto have lost nine out of their 10 away matches against English opponents, although on the one occasion they avoided defeat, a 1-1 draw with Manchester United in 2004, they went on to lift the trophy.
- REUTERS