Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has admitted facing Liverpool at Anfield is the toughest opponent he has encountered during his career in the professional game.
The former Everton and Arsenal midfielder has visited Anfield as both a player and a manager and was part of the Gunners' side that was defeated 5-1 by the Reds in February 2014.
Speaking to Jamie Carragher in a series of quick-fire questions, the 40-year-old admitted that visiting Anfield as an opponent was the most "difficult" enemy he had faced.
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During his six-year stay at Goodison Park, Arteta was winless when making the short trip across Stanley Park under former manager David Moyes. Meanwhile during his time as an Arsenal player, the midfielder only tasted the winning feeling at Anfield on one occasion.
After the release of Arsenal's fly-on-the-wall documentary series earlier this year, Arteta's fear of Anfield became public as the extent to which he tried to prepare his players for their visit to Merseyside was captured by Amazon Prime.
In the days leading up to their encounter with Jurgen Klopp's side in November 2021, the Arsenal manager took speakers out to the pitches of the club's Colney training ground where he played 'You'll Never Walk Alone' while the players played a mock eleven-aside match.
“One of my crazy ideas," said the Arsenal manager at the time. "Today, they are going to train with You’ll Never Walk Alone in the background.
“There is a word that we use in Spain for cycling. When a cyclist is going up [a hill] and looks amazing, and in one kilometre he goes ( Arteta signals going down a hill fast ) and looks like he’s going to get stuck.
“There’s a word [we use] it’s pájara. I had this once at Anfield. The game was going well and then suddenly all I could see was red shirts flying around. The game was passing all over me and I could not react.
“People will say ‘what is he doing’ and I think ‘I cannot do it - physically and emotionally, I cannot cope and everything goes too fast'.
“I only had this feeling in my career once and it was at Anfield.”
Liverpool were beaten 3-2 by Arteta's side in their clash at the Emirates Stadium on October 9 and will welcome their Premier League counterparts in April.
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