Houllier has certainly lost no faith in the abilities of his usually prolific forward.
He said: "I am sure Michael would rather we won 3-0 than score, but at the same time I have to say it is a magnificent record and I hope he beats it."Michael has had a barren run in the league but his goalscoring in Europe has never wavered and that is the hallmark of his talent.
"One of the problems Michael has is that domestically, teams come to Anfield and sit deep on the edge of their own box, not allowing him space in behind them. "In Europe competition teams play differently and therefore he has that space to work in. "I am still quite happy with his game and overall performance, although I am sad when I read criticism of him.
"But he continues to create chances for himself and others and I am sure he will still score more than 20 league goals this season -- he is far from finished yet."