Art club must show they’re up it
CANCEL OUT KOP STARS AND MIKEL’S BOYS CAN MAKE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
ARSENAL can prove they are genuine contenders for the top four and not just flat-track bullies at Liverpool tonight.
I think this is a huge game. Arsenal have got to get a result here for me. Or if they do get beat, they need to at least be competitive.
Mikel Arteta’s boys are bang in form and playing well but when they played Chelsea and Manchester City they got well beat.
If they get a draw I think people start sitting up to take notice. I think Arsenal are candidates for the top four, I really do.
But they can’t go to Liverpool and get beaten the way they usually do every time they go there.
Look at the last few times the Gunners have gone to Anfield in the Premier League. They lost 3-1 twice, 5-0 and 4-0. They haven’t even put
INTERVIEW
by PAUL BROWN
up a fight. If you want to get back into the Champions League, you have to do better than that.
These are the teams you measure yourself against.
Arsenal have got something to prove here. You can’t just keep on beating the teams you’re expected to. You have to beat the bigger teams to be taken seriously.
Don’t go there, fizzle out, get beaten by two or three and never look like scoring – because then you’re just going to be the team that beats the likes of Watford and Norwich.
Arsenal deserve better. They’ve been out of the Champions League for a long time but that’s where they belong. Go and prove it.
They can get a result at Anfield if they believe in themselves. There’s no better time to go there. It’s just after an international break and they’re on fire.
Arteta has seen his side win four in a row and they haven’t lost since they got thrashed by City in August. Don’t go up to Liverpool just looking to keep the score down.
When was the last time Arsenal went to a place like this in this kind of form? There’s no excuses not to have a go.
Liverpool are conceding too many goals and have just lost to West Ham. It’s a big game for them, too, because you don’t want to be falling further behind Chelsea. I don’t think Virgil van Dijk is fully fit and until he is, he can’t play the way he normally does without them letting in goals. They’re getting caught out a lot.
Arsenal need to take advantage.
They are a couple of injuries away from having problems but they’re not in Europe, playing once a week and if they keep their best 11 fit, they’ve got a chance this season.
They look all right in attack because Pierre-emerick Aubameyang is putting a shift in and Alex Lacazette is playing well.
You’ve got flair out wide in Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe. You’ve got holding midfielders who actually hold too.
Takehiro Tomiyasu has come in and done really well at full-back and Kieran Tierney is reliable on the other side.
They must think they’re solid at centre-back because they let William Saliba go to Marseille and goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale is much better than I thought.
But this is the test because they got blown away by Chelsea and City. Those games were over after 20 minutes really and the City one was embarrassing. It’s a big game for the players, manager and fans.