Group A: Steven Gerrard has warned Liverpool he will seek a transfer in the summer if the club fail to display clear evidence that they can transform themselves from Premiership also-rans into title challengers in time for next season.
The England midfielder was courted by Chelsea last summer but opted against moving to Stamford Bridge in order to work under Liverpool's new manager Rafael Benitez. But he will lead his team-mates out in tonight's crucial final Champions League group match against Olympiakos having effectively served notice to his employers that he will consider his future if it becomes clear that Liverpool cannot satisfy his pursuit of silverware.
"If we're moving forward and I'm successful at this club then I won't need to go anywhere else, but if things aren't looking good I'll have to see what happens in the summer," said Gerrard. "I'm 25 at the end of the season and I think I've got six or seven years left in me at the top level to win things, so hopefully the turnaround can happen quite sharpish.
"I'm in a difficult situation because I'm a fan myself, I want to win things at this football club, but I haven't got time on my side. I can't really wait three or four years for the club to be turned around and to be made into a title-winning side. I'm hoping that will happen from now until the end of the season and that, come the summer, we'll be in next year's title race. I'm not giving up now, but look at the table."
Liverpool are seventh in the league, 15 points off Chelsea at the top, and must beat Olympiakos 1-0 or by two clear goals this evening if they are to progress into the knockout stages of the Champions League. The implications of failure tonight, both financially and in terms of Gerrard's future, are too agonising for the club to contemplate.
There will be no shortage of suitors at the end of the season. Chelsea would revive their £35 million interest, though Arsenal and Manchester United - whose manager Alex Ferguson has made no secret of his admiration - would compete for his signature. Gerrard would also attract bids from the Continent.
"I wanted to give the best chance to get back involved in the title race, and that's the reason I decided to stay back in the summer," added Gerrard, who signed a four-year contract 13 months ago worth £55,000 a week. "I didn't want to make a quick decision and leave the club in the lurch. I wanted to try and help them turn it around this season.
"It would mean a lot more to me to be successful at Liverpool. Everyone knows that. I've supported the club all my life. So hopefully from now until the end of the season the club can show me that they are as ambitious as I am and that we can win trophies together."
Qualification to the knock-out stage is worth at least £5 million, but this evening's match has now taken on much greater significance. Liverpool stand at a crossroads. Given the uncertainty surrounding the future ownership of the club and the increasingly desperate search for new investment, Liverpool must progress in the elite competition to generate necessary funds for Benitez to strengthen his squad in January.
Should they fail to do that then a squad which has already creaked alarmingly at times this season will presumably slip further out of domestic contention and, just as surely, be further weakened by Gerrard's departure.
Not that progress is a foregone conclusion. Olympiakos may have an appalling away record in the Champions League, with four points gleaned from 24 winless matches, but they beat Liverpool in Piraeus in September and need only a draw tonight.
Liverpool's mood has been lifted by the expected inclusion of top striker Milan Baros just 21 days after straining his hamstring while on international duty with the Czech Republic. Luis Garcia has also recovered from a hamstring injury and is set to replace the suspended Dietmar Hamann.
PROBABLE LINE-UPS
LIVERPOOL (4-4-1-1): Kirkland; Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Traore; Nunez, Gerrard, Xabi Alonso, Riise; Kewell; Baros.
OLYMPIAKOS (4-3-2-1): Nikopolidis; Venetidis, Anatolakis, Schurrer, Pantos; Stoltidis, Kafes, Djordjevic; Okkas, Rivaldo; Giovanni.
Referee: M M Gonzalez (Spain).
