Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka admits he's surprised by Liverpool's struggles this season.

The 31-year-old spent the second half of the 2001-02 campaign on loan with the Merseyside club under Gerard Houllier, who decided not to make the move permanent.

Eight years later Anelka is the hunt for a second Premier League winners' medal having triumphed with Arsenal in 1998.

Standing in the way is a side that will be smarting from their Europa League knockout on Thursday evening.

"You never know how they will be affected, maybe they will want a response after losing in Europe and be more determined to win against Chelsea," said Anelka.

"I cannot tell you how they will react but it is all about Chelsea - we have to go there and try to win it.

"This season for Liverpool surprises me a little bit because they are a big team with a lot of good players, but sometimes you can have a bad season as a team and you have to accept it, they still have a good squad that can win games.

"This season has not been as good as last season for them, they have not scored so many goals, but that is good for us. We have scored a lot of goals and had a better season than last season. Hopefully they will continue to struggle against us."