Arsenal players told to be bold against Liverpool
Arteta is hoping that former manager Arsène Wenger will return to The Emirates as a fan, having not been seen at the stadium since calling time on his 22-year Arsenal tenure in 2018
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has challenged Arsenal to play without fear and strike a psychological blow by exploiting Liverpool’s low confidence on Sunday.
Arsenal can move 14 points clear of Liverpool at the top of the Premier League table should they win at The Emirates; however, they lost all four league meetings with Manchester City and Liverpool last season and were outclassed by Jürgen Klopp’s side in the Carabao Cup semi-final, second leg.
Klopp has warned that his Liverpool side, who have conceded first in nine of their past 11 league matches, have been struggling for confidence and consistency and could be ripped apart by Arsenal.
Arteta responded that it was time for his team to seize the opportunity after not doing so when they dominated proceedings against Manchester United in a 3-1 defeat last month.
“The moment that you get momentum and you are in a good run and you can leave an opponent as far as possible, physiologically also it is really important,”
Arteta said. “To win those matches you really need to believe that you can go and win and compete against those teams. If you don’t have that component, then you have fear, and fear is the worst enemy especially against the top teams because this is what they use a lot of the time just to win. You cannot go with any of that into Sunday’s game, the same as we didn’t when we played Spurs.”
He repeated that Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus could help them overcome their mentality, having been used to winning at Manchester City.
Only City have allowed their opponents fewer shots on target than Arsenal in the league this season and Arteta praised William Saliba for his calmness on and off the pitch and quickly forming a partnership with Gabriel.
“The composure and leadership he has shown on the pitch [is impressive] and he has done it in a really natural way without any flashing lights, just being himself,” he said. “He’s very quiet and at the same time very confident.”
Arteta is hoping that former manager Arsène Wenger will return to The Emirates as a fan, having not been seen at the stadium since calling time on his 22-year Arsenal tenure in 2018.
“We are trying [to get him back], believe me,” he said. “He is more than welcome to come back.”
Klopp’s side are unbeaten in their past three matches
Klopp believes Liverpool’s trip to Arsenal begins a pivotal week which will determine whether their underwhelming season is back on track.
The Liverpool manager cautioned against assessments his side were on an upturn again following the midweek victory over Rangers in the Champions League, in which he experimented with a new 4-4-2 formation to inject “unpredictability” to their game.
Liverpool are unbeaten in their past three matches, but included in that run was a 3-3 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion that highlighted glaring frailties.
Sunday’s visit to The Emirates for a collision with the league leaders is followed by the return game with Rangers at Ibrox on Tuesday night, and then a heavyweight showdown with Manchester City at Anfield a week on Sunday.
Klopp — who marks the seventh anniversary of his appointment as Liverpool manager on Saturday — remains bullish that he has “outstanding” players at his disposal, but called for greater consistency from his team.
“We had this conversation a couple of times,” he said. “We won against Bournemouth 9-0 and the body language was pretty good.
“We are still a work in progress. We need consistency and for consistency we need to defend the shit out of everybody pretty much. That is what we have to do.
Klopp will hope that Núñez is able to break out of his goal drought
“I am not interested in this short-term diagnosis — oh, that was good, that was bad, that was good, that was bad. No, we have to be good until we are outstanding.
“I am very positive. I am very optimistic and these players are outstanding. We have to perform.”
Klopp utilised the attacking quartet of Darwin Núñez, Diogo Jota, Mohamed Salah and Luis Díaz against Rangers and must weigh up whether to repeat that formula against an in-form Arsenal.
The change in system came amid suggestions that opponents have rumbled Liverpool and now know how to perform against them. However, Klopp maintained the fundamental issue was a drop in his team’s standards in areas such as counter-pressing.
Arsenal v Liverpool
Sunday, 4.30pm
