After losing to Leicester on Monday, Liverpool would be hoping to resuscitate their pursuit for a Champions League slot as the Reds welcome Arsenal whose Manager, Arsene Wenger, is under pressure after losing ground to first placed team-Chelsea and their Premier League title hope in ruin
Arsene Wenger admits he’s wary of the time off Arsenal have had since their last game against Sutton on  February 20, urging his players to be ready for a quick start when they face Liverpool at Anfield today.
Jurgen Klopp’s men had been tipped to make the most of their own extended break prior to last Monday’s game with Leicester only to be beaten 3-1 by the stuttering reigning champions.
Looking ahead to this evening’s clash, a game that so often throws up last-gasp goals, the boss called on the Gunners to focus on achieving a morale-boosting victory.
“It’s always high intensity, very competitive. Anfield is a special place where the fans are behind their team, where their team plays at a good pace. For us, after a little break, it’s important to switch on quickly. We have seen that’s not easy – Liverpool showed that against Leicester. After a break, it’s important that you are ready from the start again. You lose a little bit the rhythm of the competition and for us it’s vital to start strongly at Liverpool,” said Wenger.
He added: “It is even more important because we have not done well recently in these kind of games. For us, this kind of game at Liverpool is of course an opportunity that we want to take.
“We have to go and take it and not wait for the result. The result comes with a ‘taking attitude’ and that for me is the most important, that we go to just start on a positive attitude. As for the consequences for the rest of the season, of course it will have vital consequences.”
Wenger also made clear that his players can’t dwell on the 5-1 defeat sustained in Munich last month.
“When you have a bad result like that, of course it plays on your mind. But I just think you have to focus on the way we want to play and on the desire to win, to fight and to take the opportunity you have to show your quality. After that, the recent history being negative, that doesn’t help. But you have to be strong enough to deal with that.”
Liverpool recorded a dramatic 4-3 win away at Arsenal on the opening day of the season and will need another positive result this weekend to reignite their top four hopes. Champions League qualification is a must for Klopp this season after such a strong start to the season. But since the turn of the year, Liverpool have won just two of their last 12 games in all competitions
The last seven matches in all competitions between Arsenal and Liverpool have produced 31 goals and Lallana expects that trend to continue. “Arsenal are always there or there abouts. People have been talking about the boss but he has done a remarkable job since he has been at Arsenal and I think he deserves respect. I’m sure the players are behind him. It’s a big game for them and us. It has got the making to be really exciting; there will be goals in it.“Arsenal play the Arsenal way, it is what has brought them success. I don’t think there will be too much different today. It’s important. The battle for the top four is huge. Two will miss out and this is a head-to-head game,” Lallana told BT Sport.
Both Liverpool and Arsenal are in very similar positions, both in the table and in regards to their qualities and downfalls. Both are scintillating and superb to watch at their best but have defensive weaknesses and issues in terms of breaking down teams that are compact and organised.
The two coaches are very much at risk of missing out on a place in the top four, with Manchester United directly behind the pair ahead of this weekend and can leapfrog the two with a win earlier in the day against struggling Bournemouth. While there is a lot of football still to be played, if the two find themselves outside the top four at kick-off the pressure will be on both managers.
Klopp faces immeasurably less from the fans than Wenger at this point in time, and understandably so given that he is still in the infancy of his tenure at the club in contrast to his opposite number, but he must begin to appreciate the strengths of so called ‘lesser’ opposition. Liverpool’s record against those around them at the top is very impressive after all but only serves to highlight the fact that they seem to take some games more seriously than others.
Liverpool will more than likely be back on it, not only to offer a reaction to Monday’s drab display but because it means more to them, more to Klopp’s image perhaps. The Reds have earned 16 points in eight matches against teams in the top six, which is comfortably the best record of those sides, while Arsenal’s is the worst, with just five points from six matches. There’s little question that the German can get things right ‘when it matters most’ but the games that arguably matter most to Liverpool at this stage are the ones like today – that the fans fear as a potential banana skin.
The game certainly promises great entertainment akin to the season opener that so effectively summed up the strengths and weaknesses of both sides. There are certainly far worse managers to be compared to Wenger. However, if Klopp doesn’t begin to work on restricting the threat of weaker opposition rather than focusing almost all of Liverpool’s work – both offensively and defensively – in the opposition half he may run the risk of facing the same criticism the Frenchman has for years and one that has certainly played its part in Arsenal’s inability to sustain a title bid.
Meanwhile, West Ham United manager, Slaven Bilic, has said his ninth-placed team will need luck to make runaway leaders Chelsea drop points when the two sides clash on Monday, but he believes the Premier League title race is still wide open.
Chelsea visit West Ham’s London Stadium with a 10-point gap over second-placed Tottenham Hotspur, and Bilic, who oversaw a 2-1 League Cup win over the leaders in October, said his team would have to be on top of their game to get a result.
“We beat them, and it means a lot because at least we know it’s not impossible. We have done it very recently. With concentration, dedication and determination — along with a little bit of luck, which is always needed when you play them — we can get a result,” Bilic told reporters on Thursday.
With 12 league games left to play, overhauling Chelsea will not be easy, but Bilic said there was still a chance that Antonio Conte’s men could slip up. “It’s still very open,” he said. “There are many, many points. Make no mistake, the clubs that are below us need points to stay up and improve. It’s the same up at the top with five clubs … they still think they have a chance to catch Chelsea if they slip and you can slip in every game.”