Brendan Rodgers is wary of the threat that Newcastle United will pose on Monday night, with the "passionate" John Carver at the helm.
The Reds host the Magpies at Anfield looking to revive hopes of a late surge towards the Champions League places, but the Northern Irishman admitted he is expecting a "tough test" from Newcastle - who have lost four games on the bounce.
"They're probably a little bit unfortunate in that a number of players are injured," Rodgers explained, when asked about their form.
"They've got arguably the most passionate man involved in John in terms of Newcastle United - it runs right through him. He's also a very, very good coach; an excellent coach who looks like he wants to step into management and will do everything he possibly can to get the role there.
"He knows the club inside-out, has been there a long time and he will want to get back on track again having been disappointed in their last performance and result.
"We expect it to be a tough game, they always are against Newcastle."
Interim Newcastle manager Carver has overseen just two wins in 13 Premier League games since the departure of Alan Pardew, and has challenged his side to ease possible relegation fears with a positive result at Anfield.
The Reds currently sit seven points away from their fourth-placed goal, after back-to-back losses at home to Manchester United and away to Arsenal - but Manchester City's recent loss at Crystal Palace has had a small number of Liverpool fans believing.
With a trip to Wembley having been booked in mid-week with a 1-0 FA Cup win over Blackburn Rovers to secure an encounter against Aston Villa next weekend - Carver knows Rodgers' side will be confident approaching Monday's clash.
"They are only seven points off it, I think, and they'll think they have still got a chance, seven points off it with seven games to go," said Carver.
"I remember our football club having a huge gap for (to win) the championship and it dwindling away, so anything is possible.
"They'll think they've still got a chance of getting into that top four, and I'll be very surprised if the manager doesn't prepare his team thinking like that, so we know we are going to have a difficult game.
"But there's a bit of pressure on ourselves as well," said Carver - with the Toon having fell to a crushing 1-0 loss to Sunderland in the Tyne-Wear derby last Sunday.
Newcastle have in fact not added any points to their current 35 points total since beating Aston Villa in February, scoring just once since. They remain nine points clear of the relegation zone, but Carver is insistent that they cannot afford to take things for granted.
The 50-year-old has not had his cause helped by injuries, which have depleted his squad, as he admits both Rolando Aarons and Siem de Jong will be unavailable for their journey to Merseyside.
"I would say Rolando is certainly ahead of Siem de Jong at the moment," said Carver. "But neither of those guys will be available this weekend."