Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Rich Jones

Arsenal star claims Liverpool are easier to defend against than Burnley

Arsenal defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos has claimed Arsenal will find it easier to defend against Liverpool than they did against Burnley .

The Gunners saw off Sean Dyche's side 2-1 in their first home game of the season on Saturday to make it two Premier League wins out of two.

They will now turn their attentions to Jurgen Klopp's title contenders at Anfield on Saturday, where they suffered a 5-1 defeat last season.

The Reds feature Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane in a feared front-three - but Sokratis reckons that might prove easier to stop than the physical, direct approach offered by Burnley's duo Ashley Barnes and Chris Wood.

And he insists their clash this year will be different story to last season's thrashing on Merseyside.

Sokratis and the Arsenal defence faced a physical approach against Burnley (Stuart MacFarlane)

“It is a different game," Sokratis said [via Evening Standard ].

"Maybe it is more easy, because you don’t have to fight a lot - but they also play football.

“If they are on good day and you are having a bad day, it is hard. In the end, we know that it is difficult and we respect Liverpool a lot. But I think the best [way] is to go and play our style of game. We will see what happens.

Roberto Firmino scored a hat-trick as Arsenal were thrashed at Anfield last season (Action Images via Reuters)

“But the 5-1 last season…it was not the game to take five goals - [there was] the penalty kicks, we made mistakes.

“I think this year will be different, but we have to improve of course from the work we do with the coach and his staff.”

Sokratis has formed a new central defensive partnership with summer signing David Luiz - and he says playing alongside the Brazilian evokes memories of his partnership with Mats Hummels at Borussia Dortmund.

Sokratis is forming a new central defensive partnership alongside David Luiz (Michael Regan)

“When I was in Dortmund I played with [Mats] Hummels, who has the same style as David,” the Greek international added.

“It was also a very good partnership and it is very good [now with Luiz]. It was his first game, it is important that we won and we can go from here."

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.