Stung by criticism of their commitment and the partnership of joint managers Gerard Houllier and Roy Evans, the Merseysiders need to survive to prevent their hope of glory this season from disintegrating.

Liverpool were held 0-0 in the home leg of their UEFA Cup clash with the Spanish side a fortnight ago and are already being written off for the second-leg.

Liverpool drew 0-0 against the Spanish side in the home leg

But Redknapp will almost certainly have recovered from a thigh injury that has kept him out of the last four matches.

But the task facing Liverpool is immense.

When Valencia came to Anfield their form was poor and they were in the bottom six of the Spanish League.

Jamie Carragher: "They looked a very good side in the first leg"

Since then they have beaten both Real Betis and Real Zaragoza and zoomed to sixth from top.

Liverpool boss Evans said: "The 0-0 draw in the first leg was about the best draw we could have got. You don't want to be drawing 1-1 or 2-2. It means that if we score in Valencia, they will have to score twice to beat us."

Houllier also insisted he was far from despondent.

"Experience tells you that you can have a bad result in the league and then a good one in Europe," he said.

"Teams can play completely differently in games separated by just three days."