Liverpool face CSKA in Super Cup

Liverpool coach Rafael Benitez is likely to field a team bearing little resemblance to the one that lifted the European Cup in May when his side face UEFA Cup holders CSKA Moscow in the European Super Cup on Friday.

Just three days after playing CSKA Sofia in their final Champions League qualifier on Tuesday, Liverpool now face CSKA Moscow -- their CSKA initials legacies from the Cold War era when they represented the army sides of their respective countries.

Liverpool will almost certainly be without inspirational skipper Steven Gerrard who injured a calf muscle in last week's Premier League match against Sunderland and missed the match against CSKA Sofia on Tuesday.

CSKA Moscow, the first Russian team to take part in the now traditional curtain-raiser to the European club season played at Monaco's Stade Louis II, will also be missing key players.

Croatian midfielder Ivica Olic is sidelined for up to six months with a serious knee injury and Brazilian Wagner Love is an unlikely starter with a foot injury.

CSKA coach Valery Gazzayev can still call on the majority of the side that defeated Sporting 3-1 to win the UEFA Cup a week before Liverpool's epic penalty shootout victory against AC Milan in the Champions League in Istanbul.

Benitez made five changes to Liverpool's starting line-up against CSKA which the Anfield side lost 1-0, although they still qualified for this season's Group Stage on a 3-2 aggregate.

With the start of the Champions League just over two weeks away and the Premier League already in full swing Benitez will once again opt for a makeshift side to face the Russians.

Liverpool, bidding to win the Super Cup for the third time after previous wins in 1977 and 2001, will also be playing their ninth match of the season after taking part in three qualifying rounds of the Champions League -- and their 22nd European match since last August.

LITTLE REST

The Moscow club have also had little rest since May as the regular Russian soccer season has run through the summer. With nine matches to go, they lie in second place behind city rivals Lokomotiv, who were knocked out of the Champions League qualifiers by Rapid Vienna this week.

Although CSKA will be without Olic and almost certainly Love, striker Sergei Samodin should play after recovering from a nasty recent encounter with a jellyfish which burnt and stung him.

Bookmakers have made Liverpool favourites to win, but the Russian team have other ideas.

"I give CSKA a 100 percent chance," Brazilian playmaker Daniel Carvalho told Sport Express newspaper.

"In the UEFA Cup we cultivated in ourselves a psychology of winners. In our team there are footballers who are confident in their strengths."

One worrying aspect of the match for UEFA is a concern over security after 500 match tickets "went missing" according to European soccer's governing body. UEFA warn that fans who have bought tickets on the black market will be refused entry to the game.

Probable teams:

Liverpool: Scott Carson; Steve Finnan, Sami Hyypia, John-Arne Riise, Josemi; Dietmar Hamann, Mohamed Sissoko, Stephen Warnock, Darren Potter; Djibril Cisse, Fernando Morientes

CSKA Moscow: Igor Akinfeyev; Vasily Berezutsky, Sergei Ignashevich, Alexei Berezutsky, Chidi Odiah; Yevgeny Aldonin, Elvir Rahimic, Yuri Zhirkov, Rolan Gusev; Daniel Carvalho, Sergei Samodin

Referee: Rene Temmink