It is four years and eight visits since Liverpool last scored at Stamford Bridge, which is the very least they will need to do against Chelsea next Wednesday if they are to reach another Champions League final, but Steven Gerrard is adamant not only that it can be done but that it will be done. The difference, he says, is that this time they will have Fernando Torres in their team.

Torres has scored 30 goals in a remarkable debut season for Liverpool and while he may have been frustrated twice on Tuesday night by Petr Cech in the Chelsea goal, Gerrard is confident that the Spain forward will end the Merseyside club's miserable record in West London when it matters. Torres was missing with a hamstring injury when Liverpool managed a 0-0 draw away to Chelsea earlier in the Barclays Premier League campaign and, with the forward now firing on all cylinders, Gerrard believes that the 24-year-old could prove the difference in the second leg.

“Chelsea might have a slight advantage, but there is another 90 minutes to go and we have got to have the belief and confidence that we can go through, otherwise it would be pointless going there,” Gerrard said. “We haven't been to Stamford Bridge yet with Fernando Torres in the team - and that could make a difference. I could see on his face how disappointed he was at not scoring, but that's how he is. He expects to score in every game and, to be fair, he has done more often than not. It was still apparent how he causes real problems for defences and it will be the same down there. You wouldn't put it past him to get that all-important away goal that could end up taking us through.

“We can take encouragement from that and from the way we played in the first game. This team just never knows when it's beaten - and that particularly applies in Europe. Some teams might have come away from something like this with their chins on the floor, but not us. We will pick ourselves up and be ready for the return game. We have been to places like Inter Milan and Arsenal and scored, so I don't see why we can't do the same at Stamford Bridge.”

The problem for Liverpool is that Chelsea possess such a formidable home record - unbeaten in 100 domestic matches, unless one includes the Carling Cup defeat by Charlton Athletic in a penalty shoot-out (which José Mourinho certainly did not). The only visiting team to have beaten Chelsea on their own turf since February 2004, in the final months of Claudio Ranieri's reign, was when Mourinho's team succumbed to Barcelona in the Champions League in February 2006. Manchester United will try to end their unbeaten record in the Premier League on Saturday lunchtime, but Liverpool's record in that particular part of London is awful. Since December 1989, they have won there only once - and that in January 2004, thanks to a goal from the forgotten Bruno Cheyrou.

José Manuel Reina, the goalkeeper, admitted to a profound sense of disappointment, but he stated that Liverpool could reach the final and he, too, suggested that Torres could be the key. “It was bitterly disappointing, but we still have another 90 minutes to try and reach another Champions League final,” Reina said. “We are the underdogs now - that is clear enough - but we have scored in every game in this competition this season, so why not again at Stamford Bridge? They are a great team and it is a tough stadium to go to, but we are Liverpool. That means something.

“A clean sheet is my aim, because I know there is every chance we will score. It has to be a team effort, but Fernando can be the key for us. It wasn't his best game [on Tuesday], but you only have to look at the statistics to see what he can do to defences. He has been outstanding, absolutely fantastic, and hopefully there will be more of the same next Wednesday.”

The myth of Anfield

Liverpool fans should not despair that their best chance of reaching the final has gone — the so-called Anfield factor is a myth. Home advantage in Europe for Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal has been far more marked than for Liverpool recently.

European games over past four seasons (assuming 3pts for win and 1pt for draw in knockout rounds and qualifiers):

United Home: 2.65pts per game. Away: 1.4. Home advantage: 1.25.

Chelsea Home: 2.29. Away: 1.27. Home advantage: 1.02.

Arsenal Home: 2.33. Away: 1.62. Home advantage: 0.71.

Liverpool Home: 2.18. Away: 1.81. Home advantage: 0.37.

The Fink Tank says

What price an own goal? Before John Arne Riise’s header, Liverpool’s chance of reaching the Champions League final was 70.5 per cent. When the ball hit the net, it dropped to 33.4 per cent. Daniel Finkelstein