Gillett Set For Marseille Showdown

George Gillett is expected to fly in to witness Liverpool's night of European destiny in Marseille.

The Anfield club's co-owner has made a surprise decision to be at the Stade Velodrome to see for himself whether Liverpool can pull off the great escape and force their way into the last 16.

Gillett and Tom Hicks were not expected on this side of the Atlantic until later in the week for their much-heralded meeting with boss Rafael Benitez, following the fall-out over the new American owners' transfer policy.

The pair were due to be on Merseyside at the weekend for the Barclays Premier League clash with Manchester United, but Gillett will now have the chance for a low-key chat with Benitez in the south of France first.

Gillett will hope to witness Liverpool's third successive group victory, this time against the French side, which will ensure a remarkable qualification for the knock-out stages few expected after the Reds' dreadful start to the campaign.

That included a 1-0 defeat by Marseille at Anfield in October, a result that eventually plunged Benitez and the club into a crisis few could have predicted, with the manager's own position under threat.

There has been a considerable thaw in the relationship between owners and manager of late, brokered by chief executive Rick Parry and Gillett's son Foster, who has been installed to work alongside Parry at the club.

Victory in Marseille would make serious talks later in the week far more convivial.

And Benitez is fully aware of the task against the French. Impressive home wins over Besiktas and Porto were largely expected, but a victory in Marseille in a winner-takes-all clash is a totally different matter.

The game has been reduced to a straight knock-out cup tie with the winners sure of progression to the last 16.

Marseille's boss Eric Gerets has spelt out how his own side will approach the dramatic tie.

He said: "We will fight to the death to get into the next round.

"We know Liverpool must win too, but our victory at Anfield was a big blow for them and it also shows that we can beat them.

"We really have not played any bad matches in the competition, any we have lost have been because of positional or individual mistakes by young players. Generally we have done well in this group."

The group is finely balanced with all four clubs having a chance of qualifying.

Porto and Besiktas clash in the Dragao Stadium at the same time on what will be a nail-biting night.

The odds favour the French club reaching the next stage because a draw, coupled with a Porto win, would send Marseille through due to their victory at Anfield on October 3.

If Besiktas triumph in Portugal then a draw would be enough for Liverpool. Then the Turkish side would finish as winners of the group while Porto, Liverpool and Marseille would all have eight points with the English side progressing by virtue of their superior record against the other two teams.

That would be a heavy blow to the French who must have thought they had the edge over the Merseysiders after that win at Anfield in Gerets' first game in charge, thanks to a Mathieu Valbuena strike 13 minutes from time.

It was their second successive victory and gave them top spot in the section.

However, since then Marseille have gained only one point - at home to Porto - and have lost their last two games at Porto and Besiktas by the same 2-1 score.

Benitez will attempt to send out a calm, controlled Liverpool for the vital tie.

He has a showdown with Manchester United in the league five days later, and a Carling Cup tie at Chelsea the following week.

Clearly a make-or-break spell for manager and club, but Benitez believes his players can handle the situation.

He said: "The players have experience of playing several important competitions at the same time so they will know how to handle this, they can do it.

"What is important is that we approach every game knowing we are playing well, we have confidence and then you only think about the next game when you have won the first one."

Benitez is hoping that Danish defender Daniel Agger will be back from a metatarsal injury to contest a centre-back role with Sami Hyypia, while Fabio Aurelio and Xabi Alonso are also in contention.