Arsenal travel to Anfield on Sunday to take on one of their hardest tests in the remaining nine games of the title race run-in. Liverpool might not be the side that have won the titles under Klopp not so long ago in their current state, but the 7-0 win over Manchester United was a reminder of exactly what they can do to teams not taking them seriously.
Mikel Arteta’s side are on a great run of form with seven wins recorded in succession since their defeat to Manchester City at the Emirates. However, Klopp has participated in ending Arteta’s runs in damaging fashion as recently as last season.
After going unbeaten for ten matches, Arsenal travelled to Anfield in November. Despite all the expectation that the Gunners were on a roll with the best chance of a result on Merseyside since 2012, the Reds punished the Arsenal mistakes and ran out as 4-0 winners.
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This would spark a period of just one win in the next three games, something that Arsenal cannot afford to happen if they want to win the title. In preparation for the Anfield trip last season, Mikel Arteta tried an unorthodox tactic to try and familiarise his players with the atmosphere of the historic ground.
During training, the Spaniard set up speakers which played the “You’ll Never Walk Alone” chants symbolic of the Liverpool atmosphere. New to the team this season was Aaron Ramsdale who spoke with football.london ahead of the release of the Amazon – Arsenal: All or Nothing series.
Asked about the strange tactic, it was evident that the players understood the reasoning behind it. Although the now England international recognised that after the humbling result, it’s perhaps unlikely it’d be repeated.
“I’ve never experienced the speakers before,” Ramsdale said. He joked, “I don’t they’ll be coming back out.
“We could all see what the method was, it’s one of the stadiums which if it gets on top of you it can be too much.”
Arteta was involved in a touchline spat with Klopp which preluded his side’s collapse on the day. Fast forward more than a year on, and both teams are in far different positions with Arsenal much more experienced.
Liverpool played out a drab 0-0 draw last night at Chelsea but didn’t start many of their stars with Virgil van Dijk unwell, Trent Alexander Arnold an unused substitute and Cody Gakpo, Andrew Robertson and Mohamed Salah only coming on as second-half substitutes.
It perhaps shows the intent from Liverpool to prevent the Gunners from lifting their potential title. An Anfield win would again put Manchester City in control of the title, with a perfect run from the Citizens in their remaining games giving them their fifth league win in six seasons.
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