Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has warned his players that some of them may be the subject of racial abuse on Thursday night.
The Reds head to Russia to take on Zenit St Petersburg in the Europa League with suggestions that some of the Merseyside clubs black players could be targeted by home supporters.
"I will make reference to it because we have players it maybe could affect, but we are here for football," he told reporters.
"We are very hopeful there will be a terrific game and anything that goes on outside the field will be taken care of.
"I know these are players who want to play and Glen (Johnson) is a very experienced, top international player.
"And young Raheem (Sterling) has been through situations like this before (with the England U21s).
"It is something which will very much unite the players and they will become one group. No-one in life wants to see anyone come under any sort of scrutiny like that.
"You go into the sporting arena and hopefully everyone from football, UEFA, referees and officials will support any player it may affect.
"There is no doubt if there is anything like that, which is untoward, then we as a group will do everything we can to support the player or players. We hope it is a game where the officials and UEFA can take care of all that."
