(Reuters) – Arsenal will need to be brave and at their very best if they are to snap their winless run at Anfield, manager Mikel Arteta said on Friday, as the Premier League leaders look to maintain their eight-point lead over Manchester City in the title race.
Arsenal have not won at Anfield in the Premier League since 2012, a game in which Arteta played. Since then they have suffered heavy defeats, including two 5-1 losses.
The north London club were in the contest last year before Arteta’s touchline spat with Liverpool boss Juergen Klopp fired up the home side who ran out 4-0 winners.
“We’ve been in a few grounds that we haven’t won in 17, 22 years and we’ve managed to do that. So we’re capable of doing it,” Arteta told reporters ahead of Sunday’s game.
“We know we’ll have to be at our very best to win the game and certainly better than we were there, especially in the second half last year when we opened up and allowed Liverpool to attack open spaces in a really comfortable way.
“We have to fully embrace it and go for it, it’s a chance to go to Anfield and do something we haven’t done for many years… It’s a different group coming from a different position. What we need to have is courage – on Sunday we’ll try to be that team.”
Arsenal have struggled to score at Anfield on their last few visits and Arteta said he was glad to have January signing Leandro Trossard in the side, with the Belgian netting a hat-trick for Brighton & Hove Albion at Liverpool earlier this season.
“It’s great to have a player that has experienced something really nice and positive at that stadium. He was a crucial player that day and it was a beautiful game to watch,” Arteta said.
“That’s what we need, players with a lot of belief on that pitch so we can go there and win it.”
Arteta said Bukayo Saka would be back in contention to start while one of his injured players could return. The Spanish manager refused to divulge the player’s name although defender William Saliba is expected to return after missing two games.
Liverpool have picked up only one point from their last three games to sit eighth and Arteta said their slide from title contenders to top-four hopefuls was proof that maintaining consistency at the top was a tough task.
“It shows the difficulty of being at the top and transforming a football club,” Arteta said.
“It shows how hard it is to maintain that. We’ve all had difficult moments. What they have done at the club is remarkable.”
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Davis)
