Lallana: Chelsea win can boost European form
Adam Lallana expects Liverpool to take the confidence boost provided by the come-from-behind win over Chelsea into their Europa League clash with Rubin Kazan.
The Reds play the fourth group-stage fixture of their European campaign in Russia on Thursday evening and will be out to increase their chances of reaching the knockout stages with a victory.
Somewhat frustratingly, their three previous outings in this competition have all ended in 1-1 draws, with the most recent stalemate coming against Rubin at Anfield.
But Lallana believes Valeriy Chaly's team are facing a much tougher prospect than two weeks ago thanks to that 3-1 win over the reigning Barclays Premier League champions.
"It was a great feeling to beat Chelsea, especially off the back of the sucker punch against Southampton the week before when they got that late equaliser," he told the Liverpool Echo.
"We made a sloppy start and we haven’t been scoring many goals recently so to come back like that and win will be massive for our confidence.
"You saw 11 players out there fighting for each other. You could see how much we wanted that win.
"It’s a step in the right direction but it’s important we don’t get carried away. It’s just one win, we’re by no means there yet.
"Now we need to think about Kazan and trying to improve our situation in the Europa League. They proved at Anfield what a good side they are.
"We need to rise to the challenge over there to keep this unbeaten run going."
Two goals from Philippe Coutinho and a strike from substitute Christian Benteke saw Jürgen Klopp's side to victory at Stamford Bridge.
And Lallana is happy to see two crucial members of the Reds' attack firing in such a big fixture, as he believes it bodes well for the future.
"Philippe is a class act - everyone knows that," he added.
"Okay, he hadn’t been playing as well as we knew he could but it was always just going to be a matter of time before he got back to his best.
"He’s still young and carries a lot of pressure with how good he is. The new manager has come in so maybe it’s just taken him a bit of time. Maybe he was trying a bit too hard but once he scored that goal on Saturday it was the Philippe we all know.
"It’s great to see him playing like that. He’s such a talented player. He’s a little gem.
"Christian’s contribution was also massive. He had a great impact from the bench. He came on and gave us a completely different dimension.
"We’re going to need the whole squad this season if we’re going to do well in each competition and they are two big players for us."