Liverpool seek UEFA pick-me-up

Liverpool will garner some consolation after their early Champions League exit if they go on to lift the UEFA Cup, and Gerard Houllier's team were yesterday installed as favourites after being paired with the Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem in the third round.

Liverpool have the advantage of playing the second leg at home, as Leeds do against Malaga and Fulham will against Hertha Berlin. Celtic must travel abroad for their return against Celta Vigo and have arguably the toughest opponents of the British sides.

Liverpool ought to overcome Vitesse, seventh in the Dutch league. Their opponents beat Werder Bremen to reach this stage but Liverpool will be expected to progress in a competition they won two seasons ago. They agreed to Vitesse's request to switch the second leg to Anfield.

"We are very disappointed not to be in the Champions League but we have good memories of the UEFA Cup from 2001 so I am sure the players will be highly motivated," said Liverpool's chief executive Rick Parry.

"We have put the result at Basle on Tuesday behind us and are now looking ahead. If things turn out well for us in the Premiership the feeling may come that these events prove to be a blessing in disguise."

Leeds will surely find their match in Malaga tougher than Thursday's 4-1 victory over Hapoel Tel Aviv. The Spanish club, who qualified via the InterToto Cup, have drawn at home to Valencia this season and are seventh in La Liga.

Terry Venables, who coached Barcelona, is looking forward to Spain: "On the upside it's a nice journey and a nice place to go. On the other side they are a pretty strong side who are doing well at the moment."

Celtic might have hoped for an easier draw after beating Blackburn Rovers but Martin O'Neill was cautiously optimistic about his team's chances against Celta Vigo, who are fourth in Spain, ahead of Barcelona. "I am hopeful," he said, "but I will be my normal pessimistic self after watching them on video.

"This is a very difficult draw but I was ecstatic with the result (against Blackburn) and the way the players played.

"I know from experience last season how tricky these games can be after we drew Valencia. But the boys are bubbling and we will give it everything we have got."

Fulham face difficult opponents in Hertha, who have four Brazilians in their squad. One of those south Americans, Marcelinho, scored once and was involved in the three other goals in Hertha's 4-0 win over Apoel Nicosia in the last round.

However, news of Fulham's draw was overshadowed by further indications that John Collins and Lee Clark could quit the club in just six weeks' time.

Yesterday morning's draw at the European governing body's headquarters in Switzerland rewarded the Cottagers' 12-game run through the InterToto Cup and first two rounds of the UEFA Cup with the double-header against the side who are seventh in the German league.

But Collins, who will be 35 in January, and 30-year-old Clark are unhappy at their fringe status with Fulham and could be on their way out of the club just three weeks after the second leg tie, as the mid-season transfer window opens again on New Year's Day.

Former Celtic, Monaco and Everton midfielder Collins, said last week: "I don't want to end my career in a reserve team", and his agent Raymond Sparkes said interest from other clubs could lead to his client's departure.

Guardian Service