The Reds face a must-win encounter with the Swiss champions if they are to progress to the knockout rounds of the Champions League and the 34-year-old has been backed to impress

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has backed Steven Gerrard to inspire his side through their must-win Champions League clash with Basel.

The five-time European champions go into Tuesday’s Group B game at Anfield knowing that only a victory will be good enough for them to progress.

And, having won just five of their 12 home matches in all competitions this season after being held to a goalless draw by Sunderland in the Premier League on Saturday, the pressure is on the Reds to perform.

Liverpool have also picked up just one point in four Champions League fixtures since opening with a narrow defeat of Ludogorets on Merseyside, a run which saw them lose 1-0 in Switzerland in October.

Gerrard was again only used as a substitute over the weekend but Rodgers has confirmed that he will play his skipper – the hero of so many European nights at Anfield – from the outset as his side seek those vital three points.

“He was excellent when he came on and, of course, he plays on Tuesday night,” the manager told reporters. “Stevie coming onto the field gives us the world-class quality that the team needs and I thought he was brilliant when he came on [against Sunderland].

“It can’t be up to him every single game to be the catalyst but it’s very hard to replace that quality.

“He’s still got that talent, he’s got world-class ability and, at this stage of his career, it’s about me managing that, along with him, in order to play in the big games.”

Liverpool will again have to cope without injured England striker Daniel Sturridge (thigh), while Italy frontman Mario Balotelli has missed five matches with a hamstring problem. However, experienced defender Kolo Toure remains confident that he and his team-mates can get the result they need.

“Our game against Basel is a final,” he told the club’s official website. “We just need to win the game. There’s no choice – we have to attack and try to win the match.

“It’s going to be a really interesting game for everybody – for the players and for the fans. We need everything that we have got to win this game.”

Basel go into the match buoyed by back-to-back away wins over FC Zurich and Lucerne, which extended their lead at the top of the Swiss Super League to eight points.

Top scorer Shkelzen Gashi took his tally for the season to 12 goals in 17 games with a double on Saturday, while veteran striker Marco Streller, who scored the only goal of the match when these sides met in Switzerland, has also returned to action after a slipped disc ahead of the Anfield clash.

Giovanni Sio is out of action for Paulo Sousa’s men, while there are some concerns over the fitness of Fabian Schar.

After Mario Balotelli was charged by the FA for a controversial Instagram post, the Reds official admits that misuse of such networks is “definitely an issue” for the club

Liverpool chief executive Ian Ayre admits that he would prefer if the club’s players did not use social media after Mario Balotelli’s latest FA charge.

Balotelli caused a stir after sharing an image on Instagram and Twitter that contained anti-Semitic and racist references.

Though the Italian claimed that his intent was anti-racist, he was widely criticised and ultimately charged by the Football Association as the image contained language referring to “ethnic origin and/or colour and/or race and/or nationality and/or religion or belief”.

Though Ayre is satisfied that Liverpool have done everything in their power to warn players of the perils of social media, he concedes that little can be done to prevent controversy from rearing its head.

“Given the choice, we’d love to keep all our players away from social media because it really is a problem,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“I can honestly say there isn’t any more we could do as a club to try to educate our players around this but it still rears its head at least once a season – probably at every club in some form or another.

“One of the problems that all footballers have had for many a year is that they have too much time to kill. In that downtime they seem to put these crazy sort of messages up. It is definitely an issue.

“I don’t think we have got to the point where we would stop people doing it but we certainly have a very stringent policy that all of our players sign. If they step out of line then we punish them.”

Balotelli has until December 15 to respond to the charge.

The Italy international rejected the chance to join the Black Cats on a permanent basis during the summer but has struggled for game time at Anfield since then

Gus Poyet is open to the possibility of a fresh move to bring Liverpool forward Fabio Borini back to Sunderland.

Borini spent the 2013-14 campaign on loan at the Stadium of Light and scored seven goals in 32 Premier League appearances.

The Black Cats manager made no secret of his desire to bring the 23-year-old to Wearside on a permanent basis during the last transfer window but the proposed move collapsed.

The forward’s prospects of regular first-team football at Anfield appear slim, though, with Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers leaving the forward out of his squad for Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Poyet’s side, and the Uruguayan is keen to strike a deal in January if the opportunity arises.

“I would love to [sign Borini],” he told reporters. “It is difficult to explain [why the previous move collapsed].

“It was a long summer and the things everyone knows, we agreed a price and we flew to America [for Liverpool’s pre-season tour] and he didn’t come.

“The bottom line is he is not with us. I am trying to concentrate on what we have got.”