Anfield on European nights is like no other. Whatever people can say about the passion of Turkish supporters is fair enough, but nothing can compare to Anfield.

The whole stadium is bouncing and it gets to the opposition the minute they arrive in the dressing room before the game. Teams have fallen by the wayside due to the atmosphere that the '12th man' creates. The Kop is the conductor, leading the rest of the Redmen in a merry dance of songs and chants. On the field the Redmen are inspired, as the cacophony of sound surrounds them.

Arsenal will come up against this on Tuesday, and William Gallas has experienced it all before. As a Liverpool fan, I am very wary of the ability and quality Arsenal have.

'One thing in our favour - besides the away goal - is, of course, the Anfield roar'


They can unlock defences with their awesome brand of attacking football as we saw in the first leg, and they deserve respect for the style of football they play; but they should not be feared by the Liverpool players.

One thing in our favour - besides the away goal - is, of course, the Anfield roar, which will be in full cry come 7.45pm on Tuesday. Like most teams before them, if Arsenal don't handle it well, they will come a cropper.  

It should be a cracking tie under the lights of the famous old stadium. So let's look at Liverpool's European record at Anfield:

Qualifiers: Played 7: Won 5, lost 2. Group Stages: Played 21: Won 12, Drawn 6, Lost 3. Knock-out quarter-finals and semi-finals: Played 9: Won 7, Lost 2. Six Champions League campaigns by Liverpool discounting the qualifiers: Played 30: Won 19, Drawn 6, Lost 5.

Liverpool have won 63% of their games at Anfield overall in the Champions League proper. The three defeats in the group stages were by Barcelona, Marseille and Rafa Benitez's Valencia (they gave us a master-class in passing and possession).

In the knockout stages, we have won 77% of our games at Anfield. Only Benfica and Barcelona have beaten the Reds at Anfield in the knockout stages. We have dispatched Chelsea (twice), Bayer Levekusen (twice), Juventus, Inter and PSV. Will Arsenal become another of our victims?