Dalglish warns Liverpool to be wary of Rangers threat

Kenny Dalglish insists a Liverpool victory over Rangers in Tuesday's Champions League clash at Anfield is no formality.

The Ibrox club are playing in European football's elite club competition for the first time in 12 years and discovered the harsh reality of their task with a 4-0 defeat away to Ajax then a 3-0 loss to Napoli at home, after which boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst claimed it would take hundreds of millions of pounds to compete in the tournament.

Liverpool, who recovered from a 4-1 defeat by Napoli in Italy to beat Ajax 2-1 at Anfield, are heavy favourites to inflict another Euro defeat on the Govan side.

However, the 71-year-old former Kop striker and manager noted St Mirren's shock 2-0 win over Celtic in the Premiership before the international break, as he assessed the Light Blues' Euro campaign.

"You have stepped in with the big boys," he said. "But that is not to say you can't compete, that is not to say you won't get a result against them.

"It is a hard shout - but it is a hard shout for Liverpool as well. You know other people have spent a lot of money and been successful but other people have spent money and not been successful.

"You just have to do as well as you can and make sure that even if you have lost you have done the best you can. There is nothing (that is) a formality. You can always get an upset.

"But a lot of things have got to go your way. If Scottish football had VAR then I think St Mirren's second would have been given offside. So you need a little bit of luck.

"But the teams that are good get a wee bit of good fortune, everybody needs good fortune along the way to be successful."

Dalglish does not believe Rangers can negate Liverpool with a more combative approach.

The former Celtic striker and