Liverpool visits the Emirates on Wednesday knowing a win will see them close the gap on Manchester City to just one as the race for the league title continues to heat up as the season nears its climax.
(Photo by Alex Broadway/Getty Images)
Arsenal on the other hand knows a win at home against the inform Liverpool side will further strengthen their grip on fourth place and sending out a strong message to their rival for a place in the Champions League for next season.
To compete with the best, you have to learn to beat the best. Arsenal might have been impressive in the league this season but the result has not been encouraging against the other big guns, whom are the supposed teacher of how things would go in the Champions League.
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal lost both legs of their meetings with Manchester City this season while also suffering defeats against Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United in the reverse fixtures of their encounter so far.
In their recent run of form, this presents them a huge avenue to test their Champions League credentials as Liverpool possess a threat as severe as any other team in Europe, and coming out on top in contests like this will prove they Gunners are indeed ready to return and compete in Europe’s top club competition.
Add to that, former Mikel Arteta boss, Pep Guardiola is in need of an Arsenal win to ease the pressure on his Manchester City side after their stalemate with Crystal Palace on Monday, which may see them end the week with just a point above their closest rival for the title, if Liverpool emerge winner at the Emirates.
Playing at home, Arsenal should be able to stand their ground even though this Liverpool side has in recent years dominate the fixture, but not until last season were they able to complete the double over their host on Wednesday for the first time since the 2016-17 season.
Arsenal have lost all of their meetings with the top four teams this season in the Premier League. (Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)
To be able to compete at the grandest stages, you should be able to stand your ground when playing at home. The most recent example is the tie between Bayern Munich and Red Bull Salzburg in the Champions League knockout rounds. Despite being against the odds, the Austrian side still managed to hold off the Bavarians to a draw in their Red Bull Arena in the first leg before eventually losing 7-1 in the return leg.
This is the kind of spirit Arsenal have to portray when Liverpool visit on Wednesday. Being runned over by other top side in the league will not make them a good prospect for the Champions League asides that it will hurt their push to qualify for the competition.
A fully fit Arsenal squad is expected to compete on Wednesday with Takehiro Tomiyasu being the only doubt as of now and that should be reason enough why a failure will mean the Gunners are not ready to compete with other elites.
They did put on an impressive showing against Manchester City on new year’s day but eventually lost out 2-1. Playing well is not enough than to win against the top teams but the winning mentality and strong mental strength are some of the many qualities required on the bigger stage.
These qualities will be tested of Mikel Arteta and his disciples by the more experienced Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool, who boast some of the best attacking talents in the world of football today.
The likes of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mané, Roberto Firmino and Diogo have found joy playing against the Gunners and once again will look to make the Arsenal defence vulnerable when they kickoff on Wednesday evening.
As devastating as they are, they teach the lessons that will be eventually encountered in Europe ans after scoring six times in three meetings against the Gunners this season, Mikel Arteta and his defenders need no warning of the battle at hand.
The two sides have met on three occasions this season with Liverpool coming out victorious on two occasions, one which was a 4-0 demolition in the league and the others a 2-0 aggregate win to progress to the final of the Carabao Cup which they eventually won by beating Chelsea in Wembley earlier in the month.
The outcome of Wednesday’s game will have a crucial role to play in Arsenal’s chances of Champions League qualification but more their chances of doing well if they eventually make it to the competition. Which is why doing Pep Guardiola a favour will go a long way in assuring Arsenal will not be a disgrace if they eventually made it to Europe next season.
Author: Kehinde Hassan Afolabi
1 Comment
This is a game of die hard,we are not going to favor Manchester city but a win is all we need, for us to be in a good position of uefa champion