Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has confirmed that his side will take Saturday’s game to Liverpool and not repeat Manchester United’s approach against Jurgen Klopp’s team. The Red Devils drew criticism from Virgil van Dijk in the aftermath of their 0-0 draw last weekend as they decided to sit back and defend in order to take a point at Anfield.
Liverpool had 34 shots, eight of which were on target, against United but they were unable to breach Andre Onana’s goal. The Reds also dominated possession but Erik ten Hag’s outfit appeared happy to sit deep and hit their opponents on the counter, coming away with a point and a big improvement on the previous year’s 7-0 hammering.
“There was only one team trying to win the game,” Van Dijk said in his post-match interview. “Unfortunately it didn’t happen. We want to win every game, especially a team like them. It’s frustrating as we were superior in all aspects and they were just hoping on the counter-attack to hurt us. In the end, they are buzzing with a point and we are disappointed with a point.
“They aren’t in the best phase so coming here you have to worry about the threat we have. But we should have won today. There are big games coming up and we won’t dwell on it.”
Liverpool have had to quickly shift gears from the disappointment against United, reaching the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup with a 5-1 thrashing of West Ham ahead of Saturday’s showdown with Arsenal. The Gunners will be hoping to go four points clear at the top of the Premier League table with an away win while the Reds can go to the summit if they come away with the three points.
United may have set the blueprint for containing Liverpool, but Arteta has confirmed that Arsenal will take a different approach. “It’s going to be a really competitive match for sure that we’re going to try to win,” he said. “And if we manage to do that, it’s going to be a really powerful thing for our team.”
Arsenal have come on leaps and bounds since Arteta’s arrival. He has recently celebrated his fourth year in charge of the club, but insisted that more trophies need to be added to their FA Cup success in 2020 to realise their ambitions.
“We still haven’t won enough important things,” Arteta added. “When I am talking about that it is the Premier League and the Champions League and how many of have we won in the last 50 years.
“This is what we want. We want to be the best team in the country and we want to be in European competition and really fighting for it. That doesn’t happen overnight. We have made big strides to get there – and we have what it takes to get to the next level.”
