Rafa Benitez aiming to cash in on a dodgy Cech

Of all the things to give manager Guus Hiddink cause for concern at the weekend, it is Cech's poor performance in conceding three goals that will have given him particular angst.

The Czech international had begun to look more like his old self in the weeks since Luiz Felipe Scolari's dismissal in February.

Under the Brazilian, his shot-stopping ability as well as the general command of his penalty area appeared to be dramatically on the wane, but Hiddink has coaxed out of his stopper a return to the kind of form that saw him regularly rated the best keeper in the world.

Against Bolton, however, some of the frailties that first crept into his game a few years ago were worryingly on show.

There is a suspicion that the 26-year-old has never quite been the same since he suffered a fractured skull against Reading in 2006. While his bravery in coming back from the horrific incident which saw Stephen Hunt's knee clatter into his head can never be in doubt, he sometimes appears to be uneasy whenever challenged by opposition players.

It was there for all to see at Stamford Bridge at the weekend when Bolton, already four goals down, started to bombard Cech's goal with crosses and long balls and he floundered.

While he may have been offered little protection from the defenders in front of him, on too many occasions his hesitancy appeared to be the cause of all the uncertainty in the Blues' defence.

It was just the kind of encouragement Liverpool, who tonight need to score three goals without reply to go through, wanted, especially with the knowledge that Chelsea will also be without captain John Terry in defence.

Former Chelsea keeper Dave Beasant certainly thinks Liverpool will go into the second leg with renewed confidence despite being outplayed in the 3-1 defeat at Anfield last week.

He said: "Cech is still a top keeper and has been performing well, but he has struggled to match the form he had a couple of years ago when he was probably the best in the world. That was before he got his injury and something like that will always have an effect.

"I think Rafa will take encouragement from what happened on Saturday and the fact that JT is now also missing. Benitez has to go down there and attack and if they get an early goal it could unsettle Chelsea.

"What's good for Chelsea and Cech is that Liverpool are a different team and don't have the same kind of aerial threat as Bolton. They tend to rely on Fernando Torres to find goalscoring positions and Steven Gerrard to run into the box at the right time to link up play and finish things off.

"What happened on Saturday will actually do Chelsea a favour. They learnt the old lesson that no game is over and never to take the opposition lightly."

However, Hiddink confessed in his pre-match press conference to hearing more than one 'alarm bell' against Bolton and Liverpool will still have another possible weakness to exploit in the form of defender Ricardo Carvalho (left).

The Portuguese international would normally be a candidate for a place in any coach's world XI, but a persistent hamstring injury has meant that has been far from thee case this term. The Bolton clash was only his 11th League start this season and he was found wanting against Kevin Davies.

A lack of fitness ensured he watched from the substitutes' bench last week as Terry and Alex negated Liverpool with ease after they'd recovered from the setback of conceding an early goal.

The 30-year-old will tonight be given the responsibility of keeping Liverpool quiet from the start due to Terry's ban, and Carvalho is adamant he won't let the side down.

He said: "It has taken too long for my hamstring to recover, it has been four to five months. It has been very disappointing. But I am getting fitter and stronger. I am doing extra work and I am improving. Hopefully I can show that in the next few games, starting with Liverpool.

"The team put in a fantastic performance last week and we want to go through. The Champions League is very important to us and I am very motivated to play in front of our own fans.

"I am confident we can hold on to the lead. We will miss JT but we can change the roles. Our back four has to be compact and play in our normal way."

Despite some signs of encouragement for Liverpool, they will still be strong outsiders because they are battling history as well as a healthy deficit from the first leg.

They have never won away from home in Europe against an English team, they have scored only twice in four previous Champions League games at Chelsea and have not scored three goals there in 20 years.

Chelsea have also never conceded more than two in a European tie at home and Benitez said: "The first goal will be important for either side but, for us, it would be a massive difference.

"At this moment, we have nothing to lose. They will be under pressure because they have to win. But, still, we're talking about players with experience in the Champions League and the Premier League. It's a question of whether we can score that first goal."