The Gunners simply have to beat the resurgent Reds at the Emirates this Sunday to prove they're not going backwards
Before Arsenal laboured to victory at Nottingham Forest on Tuesday night, Mikel Arteta claimed: "we have one of the thinnest squads in the league, that's for sure." It was a genuinely staggering statement from the manager of a club that spent just under £200 million ($255m) on players last summer, a quite blatant and utterly nonsensical attempt to explain why the Gunners appear to be going backwards – or, at the very least, have failed to build on their breakout season.
When the 2023-24 campaign began, hopes were high that Arsenal could end an agonising 20-year-old Premier League title drought. Declan Rice, Kai Havertz, Jurrien Timber and David Raya had been added to a side coming off the back of a second-placed finish, and while Manchester City were nearly everyone's favourites to win a fourth consecutive title, Arteta's hungry and talented team were expected to run the champions close. The common consensus was that Arsenal would, at the very least, prove that they are the coming force in English football.
GettyArsenal the new Liverpool?
Comparisons had already been drawn with Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool circa 2017 – a rapidly-improving side led by a passionate tactician and roared on by a revived fan base that was quite clearly destined to achieve great things.
Klopp even acknowledged the "similarities" ahead of a trip to the Etihad in March 2022. "They have a clear structure, clear idea, properly tuned, possession-based, young, full of talent and joy," the German told reporters.
"Other teams will not like it because it's another big name back on track but that's how it looks. Arsenal fans, maybe since I was in England it was not always easy for them to enjoy. But they seem to be now and that's exactly how it should be."
Advertisement(C)Getty ImagesArteta inspired by Klopp
Arteta has also admitted on several occasions that he has drawn inspiration from the way in which Klopp managed to get Anfield fully behind what was, at least initially, a team in transition during the first couple of years of his tenure.
Only last April, the Spanish coach reiterated, "For sure, [he is an example to follow]: coming from abroad, the way he did it, the way he installed that clear identity, values and the way he transmitted and everybody bought his ideas so early. He needed some time but then results came up in the best possible way.
"They are a great team managed by a top manager and they create an incredible atmosphere that makes it very difficult for any opponent. It is the same to come to the Emirates now. It’s very, very difficult…
"But he also transformed the club with the results they've had and how much they won. You can sustain yourself at this level only if you produce the results that are necessary to continue."
Getty ImagesA must-win match for Arsenal
And that is the challenge now facing Arteta as he prepares to welcome Premier League-leading Liverpool to the Emirates for a massive match in the context of this season's title race.
The visitors can ill-afford to drop points with Manchester City having ominously and inevitably slipped into second-half-of-the-season mode, but a draw would not be a disaster.
For Arsenal, though, this is a must-win match. They racked up 50 points by the midway point of the 2022-23 campaign; this season, they have 46 from 22 games and sit third, level on points with second-placed City but having played one game more. Liverpool lead the way on 51 points.
When one considers that Arsenal have struggled to play with anything like the same fluency as last season, questions are already being asked of their true title credentials, because from being in a position of real strength last summer, the Gunners look worryingly weak in certain areas, as Arteta admitted himself.
(C)Getty ImagesLiverpool looking like City's real rivals – again
Losing Jurrien Timber to injury on the opening day of the season was obviously desperately unfortunate but it's worth noting that Liverpool (19) have conceded fewer league goals than Arsenal (21) despite being without their two first-choice left-backs, their first-choice right-back and a starting centre-back at one point this season.
Klopp has also had to make do without his most reliable source of goals, Mohamed Salah, for the best part of a month (one dreads to think what would happen to Arsenal if they lost Bukayo Saka, their top Premier League scorer this season with seven strikes) – and yet Liverpool are still competing on four fronts as we enter February.
It is an awesome testament to Klopp's coaching credentials and, truth be told, is making Areta's Arsenal look bad. The Londoners were meant to be the ones taking the fight to City – not a Liverpool side that failed to even finish in the top four last term and then had to completely overhaul their midfield during the summer.