Sakho: Let's believe in north London
Liverpool should trust in their own quality when they lock horns with top-four rivals Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium today, stressed defender Mamadou Sakho.
The lunchtime kick-off in north London pits together two sides with aspirations of securing Champions League qualification in the remaining eight games.
A punishing home defeat by Manchester United before the international break leaves Brendan Rodgers' team with greater work to do in that particular battle.
Returning to Merseyside with points gained from the contest against the Gunners is therefore imperative - and Sakho implored the Reds to be confident.
"The rest of the season is just eight games and all the games are very important for us if we want to achieve our objective," the Frenchman told Liverpoolfc.com.
"We have to stay focused, go to Arsenal and play our football and believe in our quality.
"We are a strong group, a lot of players have quality and the most important thing is that all the players give 100 per cent for the team. Together, we can be stronger."
In all competitions, Liverpool have visited the Emirates Stadium 11 times since its opening and recorded just a single victory - in August 2011.
Sakho isn't concerned by such a statistic, however. The No.17 instead sees the fixture as completely fresh, a clean slate on which to paint a different picture.
He said: "That's true, but that is just on paper and in the past. Now we have to go there with another mentality. We have to work well to be ready for such a day."
The centre-back was part of the line-up at Swansea City that chalked up a sixth consecutive clean sheet away from home in the Barclays Premier League last month.
Attempting to ruin that streak this afternoon will be Sakho's compatriot Olivier Giroud, but again the French international is firm in his assessment of the challenge.
"He's a good player, I play with him in the national team and I played against him before in France," explained the 25-year-old. "He's strong, he can keep the ball and he can score.
"He's a good player so we have to stay focused in defence. I'm not scared of anybody. They have many options and good players, but we have quality too and it will be a very good game."