Liverpool's defenders, used to dealing with the intricacies of Premiership strikers such as Thierry Henry and Gianfranco Zola, will encounter an altogether different threat when they follow Rangers into Celtic Park this week.
It is unlikely goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek and Co, for all their experience, will have come up against anything quite like the dangers presented by giants such as Joos Valgaeren, Bobo Balde, Johan Mjallby, Chris Sutton and John Hartson.
There is nothing subtle about the way these players attack at Celtic's set pieces, and this is a potent weapon in the armoury of Martin O'Neill's team, who are now eyeing UEFA Cup glory after a domestic success which put the Premier League championship chase firmly back into the melting pot.
Height and strength created the only goal of an uninspiring Old Firm fixture, a factor which will have been noted by the watching Alex Miller, a Liverpool spy and former Rangers player.
The lightweight visitors also contributed to their own downfall. Mikel Arteta was caught dithering in midfield, a practice neither wise nor rewarding in this fixture, and Valgaeren released Alan Thompson. His cross was met by Sutton hanging above Lorenzo Amoruso for a clever header which Hartson dispatched with a ferocious volley.
O'Neill described Hartson's strike as "sensational" and added: "It was a wonderful finish from a wonderful player."
Earlier the Welshman had been guilty of two glaring misses: he miskicked from four yards in the first half and sent an unmarked header wide from close range in the second.
The display from Hartson's strike partner Sutton drew admiring comments from Neil Lennon, who had a formidable match in midfield. Lennon said: "Chris is top-class and if people don't know that by now they never will. He made a rod for his own back by not playing for England B a few years ago and he knows that, so I'm not even sure he would ever go back."
Although Hartson's goal was all that eventually separated the teams, the scoreline did Celtic a disservice. Content in the knowledge that Rangers, for whom only Amoruso and Craig Moore have a genuine physical presence, would struggle to cope with a bombardment, they basically followed the plan through.
Apart from the efforts missed and converted by Hartson, who was being watched by the Wales manager Mark Hughes, Stilian Petrov also went close and Thompson might have had a penalty after being brought down by Moore on half-time.
After the goal, with Rangers finally pushing forward, Celtic created further chances, whereas the Ibrox team won their first corner after 78 minutes and seriously tested Robert Douglas only through a fierce Amoruso drive a minute from time.
CELTIC: Douglas, Mjallby, Balde, Valgaeren, Agathe (Sylla 35), Lambert, Lennon, Petrov (McNamara 84), Thompson, Sutton, Hartson. Subs Not Used: Broto, Maloney, Crainey. Booked: Sutton. Goals: Hartson 58.
RANGERS: Klos, Ross (Konterman 84), Moore, Amoruso, Bonnissel (Thompson 68), Ricksen, Arteta (Caniggia 74), Ferguson, Lovenkrands, Arveladze, McCann. Subs Not Used: McGregor, Malcolm. Booked: Ricksen, McCann.
Referee: M McCurry (Scotland)
