Togo striker Adebayor netted his first goal for a month as he headed Arsene Wenger's men into the lead at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night.

However, the Reds struck back quickly when Dirk Kuyt scored from close range following Steven Gerrard's powerful run to grab what could prove to be a crucial away goal.

Arsenal, though, dominated the second half and were denied what Wenger called a "blatant penalty" when Kuyt pulled back Alex Hleb, only for Dutch referee Pieter Vink to wave away the appeals.

The 1-1 draw leaves the tie delicately poised ahead of the second leg on Merseyside next week.

Before then, the two clubs will again go head-to-head in north London on Saturday in the televised Premier League lunchtime kick-off.

Adebayor insists the Gunners have the "mental strength" required to come through, having finally secured a first league win in six at Bolton last weekend.

"Liverpool defended very well, but now we will try to win there," said the 24-goal forward.

"Why can't we do it? People said we could never win in Milan, but we did it.

"We will just keep on doing what we do, keep our focus and we are sure we can do something there.

"I do not know whether people have written us off already, we will have to see.

"But we have to keep our confidence high and do what we have to do.

"We know that we have a quality and the mental strength to come back and win at Anfield."

Adebayor continued: "At the beginning of the season, a lot of people had written us off, but we have to show people that they are wrong.

"This season with what we have done, it would be very good if we could win something, and a shame if we could not win anything.

"There is still one month to go, we have a quality squad and we are going to put our hearts into the game.

"We just have to believe in ourselves and play our football."

Wenger had rested Adebayor to the bench for Saturday's Premier League game at Bolton, where Arsenal came back to win from 2-0 down and having a man sent off.

The Gunners boss felt his leading scorer had become somewhat "jaded" after playing so much football this season.

Adebayor, 24, admitted the rest had done him good.

"I really needed that, because I had played all of the games during the season, even in the Carling Cup sometimes," he said.

"At the end of the day, I was tired and the boss is there to do that [rest me].

"You can see now that I am a little bit fresher than before. Now physically I am very good."

Adebayor insisted: "It is not that I put pressure on myself, but I have had to do the job alone because Robin van Persie got injured and then we lost Eduardo as well.

"Whenever the boss has asked me to do it, I have to do it. After all, I am here to play football, as much as I can.

"For me the most important thing is to keep on going, but as a human being if you need a break you have to take it."

Adebayor went through a superb run of form earlier in the season, when he netted in nine consecutive appearances.

However, his goal last night was a first since scoring in the 2-0 win over European Cup holders AC Milan and only his second in 10 games.

Adebayor, though, maintained: "I may have not been scoring, but I am making a lot of positive things for my team-mates. This is the most important thing.

"For me, it is not just about scoring, if you make something for someone else, that is just like a goal.

"I will just keep on going.

"If I get a chance, I will try to put it in. If I do not get a chance, then I will just work hard for my team-mates."

Striker Van Persie was withdrawn at half-time last night as a precaution because of a muscular problem in his thigh.

Wenger revealed the Dutchman was a major doubt for Saturday's match, while Adebayor had picked up a minor ankle problem.

"If you ask for my gut feeling right now I would say no, Robin won't play. At the moment it is 80% no and 20% yes," Wenger told Arsenal TV Online.

"But he has a scan this afternoon and he is better today than he was last night.

"That is positive for a muscle problem. But we'll know much more about it on Friday morning."

Wenger added: "We also have Adebayor who has a little ankle problem. We'll see how he is tomorrow. I hope he'll be okay. But the time is so short between the games it is very difficult to make a decision the morning after a game.

"You don't know if it is a bruise or a little twist and the first 24 hours doesn't tell you a lot about that."

However, Wenger confirmed full-back Bacary Sagna (ankle) and Tomas Rosicky (hamstring) will both miss Saturday's game and the Champions League quarter-final second leg at Anfield.