Houllier said: "The players have been bubbly and lively this week and that has been good to see.
"It was hard for them last weekend because they were a victim of circumstances. When you lose your captain and one of your best defenders, if not the best, after four minutes away at Old Trafford then it is going to be hard.
"I insist 4-0 was a mis-leading scoreline. Scorelines like that happen from time to time. Two years ago we beat Arsenal 4-0 here. There have also been games recently when Manchester United have beaten Arsenal 6-1 and where United have lost 5-0 at Chelsea when they had eleven against eleven throughout.
"We wanted to attack Manchester United last weekend but we were unable to do that when we were forced to take one of our strikers off. It wasn't our day.
"Are we desperate to bounce back and show our fans that we have what it takes to finish this season well? Wait and see tomorrow!"
