Arsenal's attempt to rescue their season from freefall will be bolstered by the surprising return of Thierry Henry from the back injury he sustained in their calamitous Champions League quarter-final defeat against Chelsea on Tuesday.

Immediately ruled out for at least a week, Henry will now return significantly sooner, with an appearance in this afternoon's match against Liverpool or Sunday's visit to Newcastle almost certain.

"He'll have a fitness test to see how he's getting on, but if he cannot play I will not take a chance on him tomorrow," said Arsene Wenger yesterday. "He'll play in one of the games, but probably not both."

Wenger desperately needs an impressive performance if his side are to re-establish their fearsome reputation. They are in danger of becoming the ultimate nearly men, having lost in the semi-final of both domestic cup competitions and one stage earlier in Europe.

"For us it is a massive game. As important as Chelsea, as important as Manchester United (in the FA Cup) last week," he said. "When you get a knock from the right, and a knock from the left, to walk normally again is difficult. For us to get back to normal business is very important now."

Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier, however, insisted the game "is more important to us than them". "I've looked at their fixtures and I think they will win the league," he said. "They've got more margin for error than we have. They could afford to lose a couple of games."

An intriguing assertion, it is virtually the reverse of opinion at Highbury, where Wenger was cursing a run of matches that has included Chelsea twice and Manchester United twice, now followed by the Premiership's fourth- and fifth-best sides in the space of three days and with a derby against Tottenham lurking on the horizon.

"I feel that the congestion has got us down just a little bit physically," he said.

So there will be no treble at Highbury this year, and Wenger even questioned whether such a feat was possible, belittling Manchester United's achievements of five years ago.

"They had an exceptional team but the competition in the league was less level than now. There are more teams that can compete than there were at the time."

Besides, given the increasing threat posed in the league by Chelsea, there is much still to be done to secure the single.

Chelsea's players were rumoured to have received a further lift on Tuesday when their win bonus of £50,000 each was doubled by Roman Abramovich.

"We are well paid enough," said Wenger of the news. "If that makes a difference I find it a little bit petty."

What remains at stake is the league title, an achievement that alone would be considered a significant success.

"The league is the real reflection of the quality of a team. The team that wins the European Cup is not necessarily the best team in Europe, just as the team who wins the FA Cup is not necessarily the best in the country.

"The day I say, 'you won the championship and it's a failure', I would say, 'you're really stupid, my friend'. But you can always have the feeling that you could have achieved more."

If there is a sense of wounded pride, Liverpool will hope they are not the ones to feel the repercussions.

"They will be dangerous. They will react. That's the mark of a good side," said Houllier. "You never know how a wounded animal is going to react."

"Not a wounded animal," Wenger said later, disagreeing yet again. "A clever animal."