English Premier League title hopefuls Arsenal will be hoping to eliminate defending champions Liverpool completely from this season’s league title race when they meet at the Emirates Stadium tonight (Thursday) at 10pm.
Liverpool, currently ranked fourth on the log table, trails log leaders Arsenal by 14 points.
A victory for the home team tonight could jeopardise Liverpool’s title aspirations, potentially widening the gap to 18 points.
On a cold Thursday night in north London, the Gunners are sure to bring red-hot action on the field as they look to take another step towards having their name engraved on the Premier League trophy come May.
Liverpool have a lot of momentum following a seven-game winning streak, but the home team will take on the defending champions, who have not lost since November after going through their worst run of play since the 1950s, in another test of Arsenal’s ability to win the title.
According to the Gunners website, Liverpool have historically struggled during their visits to north London, winning only four of their last 25 league matches there.
With their home packed with enthusiastic Gooners, Mikel Arteta will be eager to see his team perform at its peak against an old rival as the title race intensifies.
Having led throughout the whole of last season to claim a 20th league title, things seemed to be following a similar pattern for Arne Slot’s side when they won their opening five games, but then they lost nine of their next 12 across all competitions to leave their hopes of retaining the championship in tatters, as they sit 14 points behind log leaders, Arsenal.
Since November, though, they have remained unbeaten in the Premier League and have slowly begun to string some form together.
Arteta counts on the Gunners’ supporters
Three successive wins against Brighton, Tottenham, and Wolves on either side of Christmas helped them climb back into the Champions League spots, but the turn of the year has brought draws at home to Leeds United and Fulham on Sunday, when they took the lead in the 94th minute but still dropped points.
“Every week we have a point to prove. We had it a few days ago against Bournemouth after a fantastic win against Villa, and it’s going to continue like that until May,” said Arteta ahead of the game.
“We know that because once we are in the position that we are in, we want to maintain and extend the lead that we have, and to do that, our level of determination and desire has to be with that mindset.
“We’re going to have our crowd, our supporters, very early. Before eight o’clock, everybody is there, creating a wonderful atmosphere. It makes such a difference; we become a different team.
“The level of energy, commitment, confidence, and desire that we can show in every action is transmitted by them, and we need them tomorrow and every game.”
Slot, Arteta’s counterpart, says that they have to be ready for the Gunners.
Winning these games shows you can compete in the FA Cup, the Champions League, or with any other team,” said Slot.
“I think we’ve shown already that we can do this because we’ve beaten, for example, Arsenal at home, and I can come up with many other games that we’ve won against very strong teams.
“But we also know that it’s going to be a special game for them as well. We have to be ready because they are in a very positive vibe currently, and it’s obvious that we aren’t, especially because we’ve conceded a late goal [against Fulham] again.” — www.arsenal.com
