SOCCER/Chelsea v Liverpool: RAFAEL BENITEZ is prepared to take a calculated risk on Steven Gerrard's fitness at Chelsea tonight and believes another Champions League miracle is not beyond a Liverpool team with "nothing to lose" in their ominous task at Stamford Bridge.

Only twice in 75 visits to Chelsea have Liverpool secured a result that would overturn last week’s 3-1 first-leg defeat at Anfield and clinch a fourth Champions League semi-final appearance in five seasons – a 5-2 win in December 1989 and a 3-0 victory in August 1974.

But Benitez, the Liverpool manager, believes an early goal will spread anxiety through a Chelsea team that conceded three goals in eight minutes at home to Bolton Wanderers last Saturday, having been 4-0 up.

He will turn to Gerrard to lead that effort. The Liverpool captain was left on the bench for Saturday’s 4-0 win over Blackburn Rovers as he rested a strained adductor muscle.

However, the England midfielder trained at Stamford Bridge last night, and the inspiration behind Liverpool’s three-goal recoveries against Olympiakos and Milan in the Champions League has told his manager he is fit to resume the duel with Michael Essien.

“Gerrard wants to play,” said Benitez, who has no other injury concerns. “We have to train and talk with him, but he’s had the problem before and was playing. We need people who are 100 per cent fit now, so it would be a calculated risk, but he is a key player for us.

“On Saturday, we knew we could use him if we needed him from the bench. But coming on as a substitute, the warm-up is different, so it is maybe more difficult doing that. If he’s available, I’d like to play him from the beginning against Chelsea.”

Liverpool’s predicament evokes memories of their momentous 2005 Champions League final victory over Milan in Istanbul, when Benitez’s team trailed 3-0 at the interval before coming back to claim the club’s fifth European Cup, in a penalty shoot-out.

While he accepts the “Miracle of Istanbul” will resonate with his players, the pragmatic Benitez believes the events of the past week, in particular the first-leg score at Anfield and Chelsea’s 4-3 defeat of Bolton, will have more relevance.

“Istanbul is something we can use as a positive and will be a good message for the players and the fans,” the Liverpool manager said. “But it’s important we give the fans something to cheer about from the beginning.

“When you concede three goals in a few minutes [as Chelsea did against Bolton] then clearly you will be a little bit nervous. It’s a good example that if we can score, then it can put Chelsea under a little bit of pressure. To score an early goal would help us play with more confidence and it would make Chelsea think, ‘We have to be careful; we cannot make any mistakes’. It’s important to know we are in a very bad position, but we have nothing to lose. We can approach the game without pressure and anything can happen.”

Liverpool have scored an average of three goals in their past seven fixtures, and Benitez has taken heart from the chances his side created amid Chelsea’s commanding display at Anfield. He said: “In the first half, in the first 25 minutes especially, we were good. We made one mistake in that time and they nearly scored from it, but Torres could have scored a second. When they scored their first goal, Kuyt had a chance to score. Why not score at Stamford Bridge?”

Benitez also claimed there may be an element of complacency about Chelsea.

“They’ll think it’s nearly done, but that’s normal,” he said. “We have to approach the game thinking we can still get through, but Chelsea will go into the game thinking it will be very difficult for us.”

Fabio Aurelio cited Liverpool’s recent record against the top sides as reason to believe the tie is not over. “Nobody is giving up on the Champions League, for this team have defied the odds before,” the Liverpool left-back said. “We have scored four against United and Real Madrid and need to remember that.”

Javier Mascherano will be back from suspension and Benitez must decide whether to retain Daniel Agger in central defence, ahead of Martin Skrtel, after his goalscoring performance against Blackburn on Saturday.