Borini draws from Eternal City derby

The 22-year-old forward was injured when the Reds travelled back from Goodison Park with a 2-2 draw earlier in the season, but returned from a second spell on the sidelines to claim a first league goal at Newcastle a week ago.

But playing and scoring in perhaps Italy's most passionate derby, between Roma and Lazio, provided Borini with all of the knowledge he requires regarding cross-city encounters.

"It means more for the city, the club and the fans," the former Roma man told Liverpoolfc.com.

"I scored in last year's derby at Roma and I could see people all week - and actually the rest of the season - remembering that goal because it was the derby and against the enemy.

"For us, it's an important goal because you see everyone happy for weeks because you scored in the derby. But what we look at is the result and the performance.

"It was a great memory apart from the result, because we lost 2-1. We were 1-0 down and down to 10 men after 10 minutes.

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"We tried to get it back and I scored the equaliser but we conceded with 10 minutes to go, so it was really disappointing for the fans to lose another derby like that.

"But they were happy with our performance and fighting - that's the derby, you need to show the fight and desire to win."

Borini was born in Bentivoglio in northern Italy but arrived on English shores in 2007 following a transfer to Chelsea; so how much did he know about the Merseyside derby before joining Liverpool?

He said: "I was aware of two teams in Liverpool - obviously Liverpool have always been ahead of Everton.

"This year is a strange derby because they are ahead of us; we'll try to make the gap closer and finish ahead. It will be a very intense derby and I hope it will be a good game."

Finding the net at St James' Park last weekend ended an eight-month wait for a Barclays Premier League goal for the No.29 and he hopes to add more in the remaining three games.

"After that goal I was really happy because I was looking for it for eight months from the beginning of the season," the Italy international added.

"It was great to score after all these injuries. Here at Melwood they were all happy so it was a really good feeling.

"First of all I had the thought of coming back to play. That was the most important thing - I knew once I was playing I could try to get the goal. It actually came after 30 seconds so I couldn't ask for a quicker response.

"One of my objectives was to get fit as soon as possible and my aim was to score at least one goal.

"I've already done that so I've got three games left to do more than what I was aiming to achieve. I hope next season will be different.

"It's difficult to describe those kinds of feelings because it's only if you play football that you can understand everything that goes through your mind at that moment.

"After everything I've been through this season - injuries, operations, coming back and being injured again were a big frustration for me to not play and help the team - that goal gave me the confidence for next season and showed to the people what I could do if I wasn't injured.

"Obviously the first Premier League goal is very important for me as well because it's writing my history."

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During Borini's absences this season, Luis Suarez has plundered 30 goals in all competitions and Daniel Sturridge has notched eight times - and the flexible forward has been watching and learning.

He said: "You can always learn from them and not only from them, because the top players look at other top players. I've been looking at them as I did in the past with the biggest players in the world - like Totti or Drogba.

"If you look at my teammates - Stevie, Luis, Sturridge, Lucas and the defenders we've got - you can learn a lot from just watching them.

"My natural position is the central one but if I need to adapt for the team and help, my characteristic is also to play in the wide area - as I did this year, last year and most of the games with the national team.

"I can also play behind the main striker; Carlo Ancelotti sometimes played me there. I think it's good for me that I can play in many positions and I'm not restricted to just one position."