Football: Fervour tempered by respect and realism

Tonight's UEFA CUP football: Celtic v Liverpool

Tonight's encounter between Celtic and Liverpool is the first European meeting of English and Scottish clubs for five years. Glenn Moore reports from Glasgow

It is 32 years since Celtic and Liverpool met in a competitive fixture but they will hardly be strangers. Celtic, or more accurately, their supporters, are the biggest testimonial draw in the game and the two teams have met regularly in the last few seasons. The most poignant of these occasions was in April 1989, in a match for the victims of Hillsborough, and the relationship forged then has endured.

For that reason, rather than any new maturity following last week's devolution vote, there will not be the customary anti-Sassenach mood at Celtic Park tonight. There will be fervour, and those stirring anthems with English- blood-curdling lyrics, but it will be tempered with respect and realism.

Celtic may have won six matches in succession but no-one is pretending that Motherwell and St Johnstone are an adequate warm-up act for Liverpool. Not that Liverpool are the force of old, not yet. They are considerably further along the rebuilding road than Celtic though and will be deserved favourites for the two-legged tie.

"Liverpool are such a high quality side it is clearly going to be very difficult for us," Wim Jansen, Celtic's Dutch coach, said yesterday. Jansen has signed seven players and he added: "We have made progress, we will know after these games how much progress.'' Henrik Larsson, already a cult hero after his transfer from Feyenoord - a pounds 600,000 steal that owed much to Jansen's inside knowledge - is Celtic's cutting edge, with the wide midfielders Regi Blinker and Andreas Thom his most likely providers.

An English Celt is relishing the night most. Alan Stubbs is not having the best of times at Celtic but, as a life-long Everton fan, the moment he heard the draw was, he said, "a once in lifetime" experience. "There is no point in thinking this tie is too soon. There will be an electric atmosphere and we have every chance.''

Stubbs may be up against Robbie Fowler who, said Roy Evans, "has done a little bit of training over the weekend and I'm very happy with him. It would be a brave decision to play Robbie but it is one I may have to make." Part of the problem is who to leave out. Michael Owen is the obvious choice but he has been out-performing Karlheinz Riedle. The most likely solution is to have Fowler on the bench.

The last time an England club defeated a Scottish one in Europe was two days before Owen's fifth birthday, Arnold Muhren scoring the goal that gave Manchester United a Uefa Cup victory over Dundee United in late 1984. There has only been one confrontation since then, partly due to the post- Heysel ban on English clubs. That was in 1992 when Rangers beat Leeds in the European Cup. Overall there have been 23 Anglo-Scottish encounters, 17 of them won by English teams. The odds favour an 18th but it will not be easy for Liverpool.

Celtic last night received safety officials' approval to open the West Temporary Stand at Parkhead, ensuring a 50,000 capacity.

Rangers could be without four key players for their Uefa Cup first- round first leg match against Strasbourg in France tonight. Manager Walter Smith's main worry is over the goalkeeping role, as both Andy Goram and Antti Niemi were ruled out of the 3-3 draw against Aberdeen on Saturday.