LIVERPOOL: Steven Gerrard insists Liverpool will find Unirea Urziceni much easier opponents when they travel to Romania next week.

Roni Levy's side made life difficult for the Reds at Anfield here on Thursday with Liverpool only winning 1-0 in the first leg of their last 32 Europa League tie thanks to David Ngog's goal nine minutes from time.

Having been knocked out of the Champions League in the group phase, Liverpool were expected to coast past Unirea.

But Liverpool captain Gerrard is adamant that the Romanian champions' need to be more positive in the return leg will play into the Merseysiders' hands.

And the England midfielder reckons Liverpool can go all the way in the competition and lift their first trophy since 2006.

"They were very stubborn but we expected that," Gerrard said.

"Maybe we needed to be a bit more clinical but we'll get more joy away from home against them.

"We had to be patient but the breakthrough came. Away from home they'll have to come out and we'll kill them off.

"Teams have come out of the Champions League into this tournament, top sides from across Europe.

"It'll be tough but we're confident we can go all the way."

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez is also sure his team will find Unirea easier to break down in the return leg.

The Spaniard fielded a full-strength side in an attempt to end the tie as a contest at the halfway stage.

Yet despite a narrow victory, and with an important trip to Manchester City in the Premier League on Sunday to come, Benitez is happy enough with Liverpool's position.

"We were waiting for the goal and we were really pleased when we scored," Benitez said.

"They have to attack so maybe we'll have more space and maybe we can play in a different way.

"We had to sustain the attack because they stayed deep, waiting to counter-attack," he added.

"It's always important to score and not concede, so not the best result but it's good."

Liverpool beat Real Madrid 4-0 at Anfield last season but had lost three of their previous four home European matches heading into Thursday's fixture.

And despite defeating Unirea, they still haven't scored more than two goals in any match since September.

But Benitez maintains Liverpool are moving in the right direction.

"You can't play at the same level we played against Real Madrid in every game when the other team is waiting and defending well," he said.

"We had to be patient."

Benitez also insists he will be patient with 20 million pounds (31 million dollars) midfielder Alberto Aquilani as the Italian continues to struggle to adapt to life at Liverpool.

"It's a question of time and he has to play more games," the manager explained. "It's difficult when the opposition play deep. It's hard to find the right pass and the right player between the lines."

Despite his team's cautious approach at Anfield, Levy is sure Unirea can trouble Liverpool in Bucharest.

The Israeli, who took over from Dan Petrescu at the start of the year, insists he was far from shocked at the way Unirea were able to restrict the Premier League side.

"I'm not surprised," Levy said. "I've been working with this team for five weeks and as a coach I like to work on tactics and organisation. We talk about these things a lot and players bring it on to the field.

"I said to my players that I expect them to keep the ball more and attack but I hope in Bucharest we will do it.

"Let's start with one goal and take it from there."