Mikel Arteta wants Arsenal to end their long wait for a Premier League victory at Anfield when they face Liverpool on Sunday, with Declan Rice and Riccardo Calafiori both in contention to return.
Arsenal have not won a league match at Liverpool’s ground since 2012, a run that has lasted 13 visits. Arteta believes his players have a chance to put that record behind them and strengthen their position at the top end of the table.
The Gunners have won eight of their opening nine league matches, but face a Liverpool side who have won their last five games in all competitions. Arteta said his team must travel to Merseyside believing they can take all three points.
“It’s an opportunity. I came here and in many places we were 20, 22 years, 18 years without winning, and we’ve been doing all these things, so on Sunday, that’s the opportunity that we have,” he said.
“It’s 14 years that we haven’t won there, so it’s time to do it.”
Arteta wants Arsenal to take the game to their opponents rather than allow the history of the fixture to weigh on them.
“Going there with full conviction, that’s number one, and we’ve been very, very close in the last few years,” he said. “To go there with a real purpose. To hurt them and get away from there with a victory.”
The Arsenal manager also spoke warmly about facing Andoni Iraola, whom he knew as a teammate during their younger days. He described the meeting as a special occasion for both of them.
“It’s a privilege,” Arteta said. “Someone who has been your teammate, that you spent so many beautiful moments together when we were younger.
“To be facing each other, to be close, massive clubs in this country, in Europe, in a big match like this, it’s a blessing.”
Arteta expects a demanding contest between two sides who favour an aggressive approach without the ball. He said Arsenal would need to find ways through Liverpool’s pressing and limit the space available to Alexander Isak.
“We are both teams very aggressive in our high press, not giving any time to the opponent,” he said.
On how Arsenal can contain Isak, Arteta added: “By keeping him as far from the goal as possible, especially when they have space to run.”
Arsenal could have Rice and Calafiori back after both players returned to training on Friday. The pair missed Wednesday’s Carabao Cup defeat by Fleetwood after picking up minor problems in the previous weekend’s win over Everton.
Arteta said they would train again on Saturday before a decision was made on their availability.
“They all trained today,” he said. “They will train tomorrow and if all is okay, they will be available.”
Noni Madueke is less certain to make the trip. The winger has been struggling with a knock and will need to complete Saturday’s training session before Arteta can decide whether to include him.
“We don’t know yet, we have a training session tomorrow, let’s see if he can complete it,” the manager said.
Max Dowman will miss the match after Arsenal’s appeal against his red card against Fleetwood was rejected. Arteta was unhappy with the decision and felt the teenager’s reaction had been treated too harshly given the challenge he had received.
“Very disappointed to be fair especially with the reckless tackle that he received,” he said. “His reaction is minimal in compared to the action.”
Arteta added that Arsenal were fortunate Dowman had not suffered a serious injury.
“It could have been really bad and we’re really lucky today that he doesn’t have a broken foot.”
