Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta has told his side they need to beat Liverpool Saturday not just to stay at the top of the Premier League, but to also break a 12-year-old hoodoo of not winning at Anfield.
The Gunners last won at Liverpool in 2012 with a 2-0 score with Arteta running the midfield for the Gunners who are aiming to win the title this season after falling short in 2023.
Arteta who has been in the saddle as Arsenal manager said he had led his side to wins at Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham, while this season they beat Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium and so beating Liverpool will not be an impossible mission.
“We have done it at Old Trafford, we have done it at Stamford Bridge and many other places where we haven’t done it for years,” he said.
“This is the next challenge. 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’re going to try to do.”
Arsenal led 2-0 at Anfield last year before they were pinned back and had to settle for a draw.
Ahead of that trip, Arteta had called Anfield a “jungle”, while in the Amazon ‘All or Nothing’ documentary he was shown piping in ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ while his players trained – although that led to a 4-0 thrashing to Jurgen Klopp’s side.
“It’s going to be a great atmosphere,” added Arteta.
“The two teams are in a really good moment, really good position, really strong position. They are going to be well placed to win it and to go for it. It’s going to be an intense match.
“You have to play better than them. You will silence the crowd if you are dominant and better than them.
“There are certain things that we didn’t manage very well (last season), the way we allowed them to run especially, that we need to correct and be much better at because when they have that momentum and space they are a really dangerous team, but we had some the big, big situations in after those moments when we could have killed the game and we didn’t – when you have the opportunity to do that, you have to do it.
“They have experienced that for many years now. For this group of players now this is the third, fourth time that they have been there (Anfield).
“A few years ago, it was the first time for most of them and maybe you have to clarify and explain certain things. I don’t think that is necessary now.”
