The memory of what happened at Anfield last season should be enough to convince Arsenal of the importance of setting their alarm clocks correctly on Sunday, but Stoke City provided a timely recent wake-up call just in case. Two weeks ago Arsenal went to the Britannia Stadium and seemed to be sleepwalking as Stoke scored after 91 seconds and stomped into a 3-0 half-time lead that proved too big for Arsène Wenger’s team to overturn even after they wiped the sleep from their eyes.
That defeat raised fears among Arsenal supporters that their team had learned nothing from their ordeal in Merseyside in February, when a somnolent start by the Gunners helped Liverpool into a 4-0 lead by half-time, the hosts eventually winning 5-1. Arsenal relapsed within a month of that match, conceding four first-half goals at Chelsea en route to a humiliating 6-0 defeat in a match that was supposed to be a celebration of Wenger’s 1,000th in charge of the team.
After such experiences Arsenal were not expected to be caught so slack at the start of games again, yet they were at Stoke and this time they could not even offer the excuse that their opponents were title challengers who could have blown away anyone in such style. The defeat at the Britannia, then, could be construed as evidence of Arsenal regression but Wenger says it has in fact served as a valuable stimulus, inspiring them to 4-1 victories over Galatasaray and Newcastle in their two matches since and setting the scene for a much improved performance at Anfield.
“It was significant because we got a big disappointment and a lot of criticism,” says Wenger, who bore much of that criticism himself, having been barracked by a clutch of Arsenal fans at Stoke-on-Trent railway station after the match. “I think we have responded well because we scored eight goals in two games since. That shows two things: firstly, that the group is healthy because it can respond to disappointment and has good unity. The second thing is that we have learned from that. We’re getting better but we have to show that in the final part of the season.”
The defeat at Stoke put the spotlight on Arsenal’s character and defensive organisation again but Wenger says his team are well aware that “without defensive solidity we have no future”. Finding that solidity on Sunday will be complicated by the continued absence of their best centre-back as Laurent Koscielny is still at least two weeks away from recovering from calf trouble, and Nacho Monreal will undergo a fitness check to determine his availability. Calum Chambers returns from suspension and may partner Per Mertesacker in central defence, while the 19-year-old Héctor Bellerín will likely continue at full-back. However, Arsenal may gain confidence from the fact that the Liverpool attack that they will face on Sunday looks like a shoddy imitation of the one that rampaged through them and many others last season.
Last term Brendan Rodgers’ side plundered 101 goals in the Premier League – 14 more than any Wenger team has ever managed – but this season Liverpool’s scoring rate has plummeted following the departure of Luis Suárez, the injury to Daniel Sturridge and the failure of new purchases Mario Balotelli and Rickie Lambert to make quick starts at their new club. Rodgers, who has been seeking solutions and the performances in the last two matches – at Manchester United and Bournemouth – hinted that he may have found one just in time for the visit of Arsenal, as Liverpool have forged many scoring opportunities in a new formation with Raheem Sterling as a central striker, even if Sterling was guilty of fluffing several of those opportunities at Old Trafford.
Rodgers has compared the way Sterling performs his new role to the way that Alexis Sánchez has played it on occasion for Arsenal this season and there is some merit in that, as both players are gifted, clever and rapid dribblers with a knack for eluding defenders. The concern for Liverpool, however, must be that they risk developing an over-reliance on Sterling while Arsenal have a more varied attack. Olivier Giroud provides a fulcrum and goal threat that Liverpool do not seem to have while the speedy and smart Danny Welbeck also gets goals, even if his finishing can still be frustrating.
Arsenal may still be without several other regular goalscorers – Aaron Ramsey and Mesut Özil are likely to be out injured until the new year, while Theo Walcott has only just returned to training after a long absence – but they look better equipped than Liverpool to reach big tallies this season. With Liverpool’s defence regularly looking as shaky as Arsenal’s did at Stoke, Arsenal are confident of avenging last season’s embarrassment. But they will need to make sure that confidence remains intact after the first few minutes.
