Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has already dropped a massive hint over how his side could be defeated by Arsenal this weekend.
The Gunners go to Anfield on Saturday evening full of confidence having gone ten games unbeaten in all competitions before the most recent international break and having risen to fifth in the Premier League table.
Mikel Arteta’s men could even go above their hosts with a victory, signalling quite how impressive their turnaround has been following a hugely disappointing start to the campaign.
Despite that, however, the game still resembles a huge test for the Gunners, with Liverpool having only lost once in the Premier League all season - that being a 3-2 reverse at the hands of West Ham United last time out.
The Reds did also come close to losing even before that as they were held to a 3-3 draw with newly-promoted Brentford in September.
Following the clash, Jurgen Klopp revealed that it was the Bees’ direct tactics that almost cost his side.
Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “They [Brentford] deserved their three goals for the way they played. We obviously couldn’t deal with them properly, with those long balls today, for different reasons.
“We should have scored more goals.”
It is clear then that the Reds have a weakness for the Gunners to exploit but it is down to Mikel Arteta to give them the tools to do that - and it would require a huge change in philosophy.
According to WhoScored, Arsenal are among the sides to have actually completed the fewest amount of long passes in the Premier League with just 20.5 per 90 minutes. Only north London rivals Tottenham and Southampton sit below the Gunners with 19.8 and 16.6 respectively.
This is in huge contrast to the numbers chalked up by Burnley and Wolverhampton Wanderers at 31.1 and 30.5.
Interestingly, Arsenal’s upcoming opponents Liverpool are third in the table with 28.4 accurate long balls per 90 minutes.
If the Gunners are to take victory from Anfield on Saturday, then it might be down to Arteta to take a leaf from both Liverpool and Brentford’s books.
