Liverpool going for high five

Just three days after securing a place in the money-spinning Champions League, it seems appropriate enough that Liverpool should celebrate their restoration amongst Europe's elite in the playground of the rich and famous. Gerard Houllier's side take on European champions Bayern Munich tonight in Monaco's cramped Louis II stadium. It may be the continental equivalent of the Charity Shield, admittedly with a dash more glamour, but the Super Cup offers the bounty of a fifth trophy to add to an already heaving cabinet.

"It can hardly be called a friendly when there's a cup at stake and you have two teams of the quality of Liverpool and Bayern, can it?" said Houllier yesterday. We've already won four trophies - that is what Liverpool is all about - but we always want more. This is a chance for a fifth."

With the World Cup qualifier looming large, it is tempting to paint this fixture as a dress rehearsal for England's forthcoming trip to Germany. Sven-Goran Eriksson will attend, although he has not asked Houllier to wrap his England players in cotton wool. "He just telephoned to wish us luck," added the Frenchman.

Yet the nationalistic theory falls flat given one of Munich's midfielders - Owen Hargreaves - is English while two of Liverpool's likely starters are Germans.

For the former Bayern players Markus Babbel and Dietmar Hamann, both mainstays of Houllier's Anfield revival, the fixture will be of particular significance.

Hamann played 105 times for the Bavarians; Babbel bettered that with 182 in two spells before the deterioration of his relationship with the German media drove him to pastures new.

Even without a host of pedigree players - Mehmet Scholl, Paulo Sergio, Stefan Effenberg and Jens Jeremies are all missing for the Germans - this evening's opponents should test how far Liverpool's youngsters have come.

The Super Cup originally pitted the European champions against the Cup Winners' Cup holders and, as such, has featured Liverpool three times.

Their first appearance - a 7-1 aggregate win over Kevin Keegan's Hamburg in 1977 - remains their only success. A year later Anderlecht beat the Reds 4-3, while a brace from Zbignew Boniek saw Juventus shiver to a 2-0 win in 1984.

"This is a massive game for my players," added Houllier. His side will be without the Czech midfielder Patrik Berger for up to six weeks after he underwent surgery in the United States yesterday on a knee problem.

LIVERPOOL (probable; 4-4-2): Westerveld; Babbel, Hyypia, Henchoz, Carragher; Gerrard, Hamann, McAllister, Barmby; Heskey, Owen.

While Sven-Goran Eriksson sweats over tomorrow week's World Cup qualifier against England in Munich, Rudi V÷ller is coolness personified, writes Michael Walker.

On the day the Germany coach named his squad for the crucial game, he did nothing to dispel the cliched charge of German arrogance by also announcing a tour to the Far East in November - during the World Cup play-offs.

V÷ller's revelation clearly shows not only do the Germans feel they will reach next year's finals in South Korea and Japan, but that they will do so as the outright winners of Group Nine, thereby avoiding the knock-out lottery facing the second-placed sides. The first legs of the play-offs will be held on Saturday November 10 with the returns the following Wednesday. But Germany's schedule for that month includes a game in Seoul against South Korea on the 11th and one against Thailand in Bangkok two days later.

With Germany sitting six points above England and effectively requiring only a single point from next Saturday's match, there is only a theoretical chance of England winning the group if the game in Munich is drawn.

Away from the mind games, there were no major omissions from the squad itself, with the influential Bayer Leverkusen defender Jens Nowotny back from injury and V÷ller's most serious worry being the fitness of Mehmet Scholl, out with a hamstring tweak. Other than that, V÷ller said, his only concern is that of the five strikers he has named, with only Leverkusen's Oliver Neuville a regular first-team choice.