Nigel Spackman advises Avram Grant to spring a surprise in attack

Spackman, who made more than 150 league appearances for Chelsea in two spells and won a Championship medal with Liverpool, also admitted that Chelsea must raise their game if they are to beat their Merseyside rivals and avoid being tagged 'the nearly men' of European football.

"If I was Avram Grant I might think seriously about springing a bit of a surprise with the formation," said the 47-year-old Spackman. "He usually goes for a 4-1-4-1 system with one striker but I might be tempted to play Drogba and Nicolas Anelka up front, just for the element of surprise.

"I certainly wouldn't go defensive. You put the opposition on the back foot when you impose yourself on them and Chelsea should go into tonight's match positive but watchful.

"I'm hoping that Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard will both play because without them and the banned Michael Essien, who has scored two goals in his last two matches, Chelsea's scoring ability is substantially reduced. I would think Chelsea will stick with their tried and trusted system though, with Claude Makelele as the defensive midfield player."

Having said that Chelsea should be positive though, Spackman is realistic enough to know that Grant must have a plan to cope with the threat of Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard.

"You have to keep the tie alive," he said, "so it's vital Chelsea cope with those two. It might be that Chelsea decide to play just a shade deeper than usual to avoid Torres getting in behind their back four because, if he does that, he is lethal.

"Gerrard is a different kettle of fish. Big players really come to life in big games and he is one of those. Maybe Chelsea will try and detail a player to match Gerrard's forward runs. Essien would have been the man for me but he is suspended so perhaps Makelele will try and look after him."

Spackman sampled the special Anfield atmosphere as a player and said: "The crowd there can play an important part. It's the third time in four years Liverpool have been to this stage and the atmosphere at Anfield should be memorable.

"I do feel though that Chelsea will have to up their game to get through. They have been getting results without playing that well and they need to improve, which they can."