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Rafael Benitez has revealed Liverpool have been concentrating on countering Arsenal's set-piece menace ahead of their Champions League showdown at Anfield.
Benitez's troops have succeeded in frustrating the Gunners in two impressive 1-1 draws in Europe and the Barclays Premier League at the Emirates Stadium over the past week.
But Benitez is acutely aware both Arsenal's goals in those games have come from dead balls and is determined to counter that threat in tonight's quarter-final second leg.
He said: ‘We are conceding goals at set pieces, we have talked about this and we are trying to find solutions.
‘It is about small details. We have conceded twice from set pieces in the previous two games. That is a small thing to some but to us it is a big problem.’
Emmanuel Adebayor scored with a power header in the first leg after a clever corner routine involving Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie.
And in Saturday's league clash, Nicklas Bendtner headed in another Fabregas free-kick, with Jose Reina being blamed in some quarters for not coming to contest the ball.
Benitez said: ‘They have good players in the air, particularly Adebayor, and Fabregas produced great delivery from set pieces. And we knew it was a risk, and we have conceded twice.
‘But we have conceded too many crosses and set pieces. We have analysed and know we must stop them at source. And we also feel that we should defend with greater intensity in such situations.
‘It is not about zone marking - we need to be more aggressive in such situations.
‘And I always try to support Reina and encourage him to try to go to attack the ball in the air. He is confident and know he can do that. I have talked with him, and I feel he will be okay for this game.’
Benitez will have all his big guns back, having rested Fernando Torres, Steven Gerrard, Dirk Kuyt and Xabi Alonso at the weekend.
But he is conscious Peter Crouch scored a fine goal on Saturday and also bagged a hat-trick in last term's 4-1 league victory over Arsenal at Anfield.
‘Crouch played well at Arsenal, and he scored again,’ Benitez said.
‘He has scored goals against them before, and he got three in the league game here last season, so he has given us another option.’
Benitez played down concerns over Crouch's future at Anfield, saying: ‘He understands the situation and understands that I want him to stay - that is why we have offered him a new contract.
‘I understand he wants to play more games, but he knows Torres is on fire. But we do not always play with just one striker.’
Benitez feels the 'Anfield effect' could influence the final outcome.
He said: ‘You could feel the atmosphere against Chelsea in the semi-final of 2005, and I expect that to be the same this time. Our fans can also hold the key.
‘I saw how Chelsea effected by the Kop, it was clear. Hopefully it will be the same again.
‘It is easy to say that you do not have any problems with big crowds in away games of this importance. But when you have to face our fans for 90 minutes on top of you then it is not easy for the majority of players.
‘They have been here before. But the difference is the Champions League, it's knockout now and that is the difference.’
