A routine 2-0 home victory over neighbours Boavista on Friday saw Sergio Conceicao’s team take a three-point lead over Benfica at the summit of the Primeira Liga, although they have played a game more than their title rivals.
Benfica will return to first place should they beat Feirense on Sunday evening.
Speaking after a win earned by Tiquinho Soares’ penalty and Otavio’s strike soon after half-time, Conceicao’s assistant Vitor Bruno acknowledged that Porto had taken their foot off the gas following the second goal.
“We pushed our full-backs forward and it paid off,” he said.
“We created several situations and the clear penalty came up to give us the advantage. The result at half-time is short. In the second half, we made it 2-0 and ended up managing our fatigue unintentionally.
“We didn’t plan it, that’s not the message we give the players, but we understand that they do it on the pitch. Boavista posed no danger. They reached our goal a couple of times, but that was it.”
Friday’s derby success means Porto will travel to Merseyside unbeaten in six matches since a 2-1 defeat by Benfica in early March.
Turning focus to Tuesday’s tie after his own team’s 3-1 win at Southampton, Jürgen Klopp said: “We have to recover now and then we will make the line-up for Porto.
“We are very ambitious. We will try everything. It’s at Anfield, it’s a quarter-final, it’s a big one for us.
“This is our second year in the Champions League, not year number 12 or whatever. We are not Real Madrid who have won it the last three times. We like the competition and we will try everything to win the game.”