pre-game press conference.<\/a><\/p>\nOn exactly what that point is, he continued: \u201cWe are top of the table, we play at home against a really, really good opponent and we want to maintain our position, and in order to do that, we\u2019re going to have to be excellent throughout the game to win the game and that\u2019s the point we have to prove.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery week we have a point to prove. We had it a few days ago against Bournemouth after a great win against Villa and it\u2019s going to continue like that until May and we know that because once we are in the position that we are in we want to maintain and extend the lead that we have and in order to do that our level of determination and desire has to be with that mindset.\u201d<\/p>\n
Few would have predicted Liverpool\u2019s season would unravel in quite such dramatic fashion, particularly after a summer spend of \u00a3446 million that included big-money arrivals Florian Wirtz (\u00a3116.5m), Alexander Isak (\u00a3125m) and Hugo Ekitike (\u00a379m). The tragic passing of Diogo Jota cast a long shadow, injuries have disrupted continuity, and yet being 14 points adrift of Arsenal after 20 games still represents a sizeable gap.<\/p>\n
So how does Arteta assess the challenge his opponents still pose?<\/p>\n
\u201cThe margins I think for all of us are very small, we always talk about that. They have a great manager and they have a sensational structure, understanding what they have to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn relation to the players that they select tomorrow in the line-up, they can play in different ways, because at the end, those will make them a little bit different and more specific to what we can expect.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to be conscious of that and then focus on what we have to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cI still think that they are a superb team, and what they\u2019ve done as well, and you have to understand as well the context they\u2019ve had with certain injuries, and the difficulty of the league for all of us, but my opinion hasn\u2019t changed about them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The home crowd will certainly have a significant role to play. The club has worked with supporters\u2019 groups on a pre-game activation aimed at setting the tone, encouraging fans to be in their seats early. But more than holding up a recyclable plastic bag, Arteta knows it\u2019s the noise that truly lifts his players.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to have our crowd, our supporters \u2013 [get there] very early, before 8 o\u2019clock, everybody \u2013 creating an amazing atmosphere, and I\u2019m looking forward to it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve been unbelievable again this season, and it makes such a difference; we\u2019ve become a different team.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe level of energy, commitment, confidence, desire that we can show in every action is transmitted by them, and we need them tomorrow in every ball.\u201d<\/p>\n
On what it feels like to play with that backing, he continued: \u201cThere\u2019s nothing like it, I mean you become a different player, your emotional status is better, your energy level is better, your confidence is better, they drive you to get action without a lot of aggression, without a lot of determination and that lifts the whole team. So that\u2019s what we have to provide tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n
After spending much of the first half of the season firefighting near-constant injuries, Arteta goes into the game with 23 of his 26 first-team players available.<\/p>\n
Only Max Dowman, Riccardo Calafiori and Cristhian Mosquera are ruled out, though the latter two are edging closer to a return.<\/p>\n
On their progress, the manager said: \u201cI think pretty soon [they will be back], they have to go to the last stage of the rehab, and if everything goes well, hopefully very soon they will be available for selection.\u201d<\/p>\n
Having missed the trip to Bournemouth, Kai Havertz \u2013 whose load is being carefully managed as he builds back to full fitness \u2013 is back in contention.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are obviously monitoring his load,\u201d said Arteta. \u201cHe has been out for a long time for two different reasons, and he is very close. He trained this morning again, and hopefully, we are going to have him available, and his best version.\u201d<\/p>\n
Following Saturday\u2019s win at Bournemouth, a couple of stats did the rounds. After 20 Premier League games, Arsenal have never previously held a lead as large as the six-point gap over Aston Villa and Manchester City. And even the Invincibles couldn\u2019t match this side\u2019s points tally at the same stage; 48 compared to 46.<\/p>\n
Arteta was quick to dampen comparisons with Ars\u00e8ne Wenger\u2019s 2003\/04 side.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, because the Invincibles won a lot, and they won consistently, and they created that history and legacy, and we have to do that.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, there are a lot of stats, but in the last two or three years, as well, we\u2019ve had stats and more points and more goals in the history of this and that.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end, we have to translate that to major trophies, and that\u2019s what we want to do. Probably now what we are doing would have been enough [back then to win the league], but now it\u2019s not enough, and we have to make the margins even bigger, and that\u2019s what we have to aim for.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Arsenal versus Liverpool has been a blockbuster fixture throughout the Premier League era, so it\u2019s little surprise to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":680309,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8815],"tags":[205909,748,393,4884,179,80,79596,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-680308","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-liverpool","8":"tag-arsenal-vs-liverpool","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-liverpool","13":"tag-mikel-arteta","14":"tag-premier-league-2025-26","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115854838561360067","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/680308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=680308"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/680308\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/680309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=680308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=680308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=680308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}