JAMIE CARRAGHER believes Liverpool can increase Arsenal’s troubles with their first win at the Emirates Stadium tomorrow night and admits Rafael Benitez’s team must not squander the initiative provided by victory in the Merseyside derby.

Liverpool returned to the top four for the first time since October with Saturday’s 10-man defeat of Everton and can close the gap on Arsenal to two points with victory at the Emirates.

They have not won at Arsenal in 10 years, when Titi Camara scored in a 1-0 win at Highbury, but head to London on the back of 17 points from 21 and four consecutive clean sheets. Liverpool’s recent displays have been spirited rather than scintillating, but Carragher believes confidence has been restored by the manner of victory in the 213th Merseyside derby and that, even with Arsenal and Manchester City away to come, Benitez’s side can strengthen their claims to Champions League qualification.

“In one sense it is more than three points because everyone was buzzing in the dressing room on Saturday, but that can quickly change if we don’t build on the result,” said Carragher. “It’s important that we keep the feelgood factor that we’ve got until after the Arsenal game, and if that is to happen we’ll have to make sure we get a good result. Arsenal have been at the Emirates for a couple of years and I don’t think we’ve had a win there yet. So it’s something we’re going to have to do sooner or later. We’re going into it in a great frame of mind, but Arsenal is always a difficult game.”

Sotirios Kyrgiakos will start a three-match suspension tomorrow as a result of his dismissal in the derby, but Steven Gerrard, echoing Carragher’s sentiments, believes the Everton result can be the foundation for an improved run of form.

The Liverpool captain said: “Arsenal away is always tough, but we have used beating Everton as a platform in the past and we’ve got to do it again. We want to extend our run and go on to better things. We know there is a long way to go and we want to make sure we are in the top four.

“It’s performances like Everton that will get you in there. We have got to try and keep this run going, as we can’t afford any slip-ups. There are a couple of very tough games coming up, but, if we can show what we have done in the last six games, I don’t see why we can’t maintain it.”

• Guardian Service