UK Football

By Jeremy Butler

LIVERPOOL, England, April 1 (Reuters) - Arsenal will be wary of Fernando Torres when Liverpool travel to the Emirates Stadium for Wednesday's Champions League quarter-final first leg, Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez said.

Spain forward Torres has scored 28 goals in his debut season in English football, including four in his last four Champions League games.

"Arsenal will know that Torres is on fire and is scoring goals and will be a problem for them," Benitez told a news conference on Tuesday.

"Fernando also knows that if we play well he will score goals so he will work hard for the team. As this is a European competition he wants to play well and score goals.

"He has a great mentality and is very competitive, but against the top sides he must be focused and have confidence in himself because against the best defenders it will be more difficult."

Benitez said Liverpool's system of playing Torres as an out-and-out striker meant he was now more dangerous than during his spell at previous club Atletico Madrid.

WORKING HARD

"In Spain he was playing on his own up front. He was going to wide areas and was working hard to receive the ball and go against defenders," said Benitez.

"Here he has Steven Gerrard, Ryan Babel and Dirk Kuyt behind him so he can play higher and that is the reason why he has scored more goals."

Arsenal's 3-2 win over Bolton Wanderers on Saturday has pushed the Gunners back into the Premier League title race, and Benitez said that could give Liverpool an advantage in their Champions League tie.

"The title could be a distraction for them," he said. "Since they beat Bolton, it means they now have the league to think about and that could be an advantage to us."

Liverpool play Arsenal three times in the space of seven days, twice in Europe with a Premier League game sandwiched between the Champions League matches.

"These are games in which the managers know each other and the players know each other. That makes it difficult to find an edge, but it also makes the game more exciting," said Benitez.

Javier Mascherano will return to Liverpool's starting line-up after missing out on Sunday's Merseyside derby win over Everton due to suspension.