Liverpool's away league form is just not acceptable. The Anfield men may have put together back-to-back league victories since their last venture away from home in the Barclays Premiership, but that cuts little ice with Gerrard, who bitterly recalls the agony of that mauling by Manchester United at Old Trafford recently.

"That was our last away league game, and it still hurts badly. Walking away from Old Trafford after that hurt like hell, " he said. "There is no worse feeling for me than sitting on the team coach replaying a defeat in my head. Of late, away from home, I am sick of getting on the bus and being upset."

Gerrard and his teammates will want to put right that feeling of away-day sickness today at the Emirates Stadium when they run into Arsenal. Gerrard's drive and form have come flooding back since that Old Trafford reverse and he clearly wants Liverpool to be up among the sides fighting for the title.

He said: "The bad feelings get worse for me when I look at the top of the table and see who is sitting there. How can any Liverpool player be happy when Chelsea, Manchester United and Everton are all up there at the top challenging ahead of us? The most frustrating thing for me is that the top sides are all dropping points. It is a great opportunity now for us to get in amongst them and to really have a go at the league title this season."

Seeing both Chelsea and Arsenal lose to lesser teams last weekend seems to prove Gerrard's point that the big boys will concede points to lower teams this term. Gerrard, who is expected to revert to central midfield now Momo Sissoko is out for three months with a dislocated shoulder, said: "If we could find last season's away form we would be right in there in the thick of the battle. It is not as if one side is running away with things as has happened in the last couple of seasons.

"If we want to get into the mix, then it has got to be now.

We have got to get right back to our best form and go on a long run of consecutive victories. No one here was satisfied with the start we made to our Premiership campaign this season. Even now no one is going to pretend the current position is something we are happy with. It is away from home that we have been letting ourselves down. It is not good enough and we have got to do something about it."

Gerrard refuses to even consider conceding the title race, despite the yawning gap between them and the leaders.

"Many people are thinking we are looking at third or fourth place now. I am not thinking that way, the way the league has started this season it looks like the top sides are going to lose a lot more games this time than they did last.

"Hopefully the top sides will slip up like we have, and then we can capitalise on it. But we certainly need to improve.

We know where our problem is, and it is on the road. In Europe we have been really strong and consistent, and we have qualified from our group with two games to spare.

"Last season we did it with one game to spare and the season before that it was that game with Olympiakos right at the death. So all that shows how much we have improved as a squad and a team at this level. But we are still getting loads of criticism for our league performances.

"If I remember, at this stage two seasons ago we were having a tough time in the league and getting stick, and then we went on from there to win the Champions League. I'd bite your hand off for that again!

But we have taken six points in the league in our last two games and are in the second stage of the Champions League. It looks an awful lot brighter now."

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