Liverpool welcomes Arsenal in the clash of the Premier League leaders on Saturday afternoon with the Gunners seeking to end their 11-year wait for a victory at Anfield, while the Reds’ manager, Jurgen Klopp, simply aims for a win – whatever it takes.
Mikel Arteta has challenged his Arsenal side to end the “hoodoo” and win at Anfield for the first time in 11 years, reports “SkyNews,” as transmitted by Klankosova.tv.
The Gunners will face Liverpool on Saturday knowing that a victory would put them at the top of the Premier League table on Christmas day. However, the visitors will have to put an end to a winless run dating back to September 2012 if they want to achieve this – winning 2-0 when Arteta was playing in Arsenal’s midfield.
The Spaniard completed four years as Arsenal’s manager earlier this week, during which he has managed victories at Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge, and Tottenham. This season, they also defeated Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium.
What Arteta expects is to leave Anfield with three points: “We’ve done it at Old Trafford, we’ve done it at Stamford Bridge, and in many other places where we haven’t done it for years,” he said.
“This is the next challenge. You go there and win. If you want to be at the top, you have to go to those places and be dominant. That’s what we’ll try to do.”
Arteta on crowd silence: We need to be better than them
Arsenal led 2-0 at Anfield last year before the hosts made a comeback, and the Gunners had to settle for a draw.
Before that trip, Arteta had called Anfield a “jungle,” and in the “All or Nothing” documentary on Amazon, he was shown playing Liverpool’s anthem “You’ll Never Walk Alone” while his players trained – although it had no effect as they were defeated 4-0 by Jurgen Klopp’s team.
“It will be an amazing atmosphere,” added Arteta. “Both teams are in a very good moment, a very good position, a very strong position. They will be well set up to win. It will be an intense match.”
“We have to play better than them. You silence the crowd if you are dominant and better than them.”
“There are a few things we didn’t manage very well (last season), the way we allowed them to run, in particular, which we have to correct and be much better because when they have that moment and space, they are a really dangerous team. But we had some big chances when we could have killed the game and we didn’t – when you have the chance to do that, you have to do it.”
“They’ve experienced this for many years now. For this group of players, this is the third or fourth time they are there [at Anfield]. A few years ago, it was the first time for most of them, and maybe you have to clarify and explain some things. I don’t think that’s necessary now.”
Klopp dismisses the Arsenal match as decisive for the title race
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp insists that using their match against Arsenal as a gauge for the title race doesn’t make sense.
The Gunners arrive at Anfield just one point ahead, and although a win would see Klopp’s team top the table at Christmas, he doesn’t believe it makes a big difference with more than half of the season still ahead.
Liverpool has been in this position just last month when they went to the then-leaders Manchester City and came away with a draw, leaving Pep Guardiola’s team fourth after winning only one of their four subsequent games.
“I like it more when you’re first and 55 points ahead because then it’s pure joy. [But] the position we’re in is not that bad,” he said.
“The 18th match? It means that after this, we still have 20 more games to play, so if we win, it doesn’t end everything, they win it, nor does it end everything for them even when these are the titles they have to go for.”
“In fact, I haven’t really thought about it; I’m just interested in this game tomorrow and not what it means for the rest of the season.”
“The position we’re in is fine; we don’t feel it’s extraordinary and ‘wow, how did we end up here?’ I really think we deserve to be where we are, but it’s just the base.”
“It’s just a super important football game,” said Liverpool’s manager about today’s match.
Liverpool is currently exceeding expectations this season after finishing fifth in May, and Arsenal, arguably, is ahead of them in terms of progress as this is their second consecutive season in a title race.
Klopp believes that their experience and recruitment during the summer make them worthy rivals as both try to break City’s dominance.
“I thought they looked like [title contenders] last year, to be honest, and then some results came,” he added.
“The team we faced [last season] was a super-strong team, and then you bring in (Declan) Rice and (Kai) Havertz, and that doesn’t make you weaker. (David) Raya in goal doesn’t make you weaker.”
“Arteta can build exactly the team he wants; they’re tough to play, they’re a good mix of physicality – big, strong, fast – good technique, very well organized, really well-coached.”
“They really have my respect, but we want the points nonetheless,” emphasized Klopp.
