Kolo Toure insists Liverpool will be running scared of facing Arsenal after the Merseysiders were put to the sword on three occasion's last season.

The Gunners host the first leg of the all-Barclays Premier League affair on Wednesday in what will be a run of three matches against the Reds, with a domestic fixture at Emirates Stadium to come in between on Saturday.

But while Toure accepts Arsenal are in for a battle against their English adversaries, he remains confident Arsene Wenger's side have the mental edge on them.

"It is an exciting tie," said Toure. "Last season we played them four times (meeting in the FA and Carling Cups as well as the league) and we showed how strong we were - we beat them in three of those games.

"It is going to be really tight, we know that, but we have the quality and I think they will be scared to play against us.

"We need to show them that we have continued to improve and are even stronger than last season." Toure added in the April edition of the official Arsenal magazine: "We are used to playing against them, so we know we are in for a battle."