Arsene Wenger is keen to draw inspiration from happier trips to Liverpool on Sunday as his Arsenal side return to the place where they suffered a 5-1 defeat last season.
“Every defeat hurts and every defeat is a scar in your heart forever, but we also have very good memories at Liverpool”
Arsene Wenger
Liverpool raced into a 4-0 half-time lead at Anfield in February, before Raheem Sterling added a fifth seven minutes after the interval with his second goal of the contest.
Arsenal had won three of their previous four trips to visit Liverpool before last season’s thrashing, however, and Wenger wants to banish memories of the most recent visit and kick-start what promises to be a busy Christmas period.
“Every defeat hurts and every defeat is a scar in your heart forever, but we also have very good memories at Liverpool,” he said. “We won many games at Liverpool as well and, even last year when we lost against them, a week later against the same team we won 2-1 at home in the FA Cup.
“We want to have continuity. It is a very important period now. Over the Christmas period, we play four Premier League games. At Christmas we’ll come back strongly in the league, I am sure.
“When you get over the hill in January, you look towards the end [of the season], and how you come out of the Christmas period is of course very important.”
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers also looking to overcome adversity following a disappointing start to the season, having guided his team to just two wins from their last seven home fixtures in all competitions.
Rodgers focus
With that in mind, the Northern Irishman is intent on picking up a morale-boosting victory on Sunday against a Gunners side who enjoyed an impressive victory against Newcastle United last weekend.
“They’ve got outstanding players, but the focus will be on ourselves”
Brendan Rodgers
“Internally, it will continue our spirit and our focus,” he said. “They [Arsenal] did OK at home last week as well. They won 4-1, played really well against Newcastle, but we’ll be looking to focus on our game.
“They’ve got outstanding players, but the focus will be on ourselves and looking to bring our game in an important game.”
Liverpool will be without striker Mario Balotelli, who is banned for one match following a post on social media, while Glen Johnson (groin), and Daniel Sturridge (thigh) also miss out.
Dejan Lovren is a doubt after coming off with a groin injury during Wednesday’s League Cup quarter-final victory at Bournemouth.
Arsenal, meanwhile, are having to cope with a lengthy list of casualties, with Jack Wilshere (ankle), Mesut OzIl (knee), Laurent Koscielny (calf), Mikel Arteta (calf), Aaron Ramsey (hamstring), Tomas Rosicky (thigh) and Serge Gnabry (knee) all missing.
Theo Walcott could feature after returning to training earlier this week, while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Nacho Monreal may also be involved after recovering from injuries.
Liverpool (from): Jones, Mignolet, Jose Enrique, Lovren, Manquillo, Moreno, Sakho, Skrtel, Toure, Allen, Can, Coutinho, Gerrard, Henderson, Lallana, Lucas, Markovic, Suso, Borini, Lambert, Sterling, Sturridge.
Arsenal (from): Martinez, Ospina, Szczesny, Chambers, Debuchy, Gibbs, Mertesacker, Monreal, Cazorla, Coquelin, Diaby, Flamini, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Alexis, Campbell, Giroud, Podolski, Sanogo, Walcott, Welbeck.
Match facts
Liverpool have won just two of the last 14 Barclays Premier League meetings with Arsenal (W2 D7 L5).
There have been four goals in the 90th minute or later during the last six league meetings between the two sides at Anfield.
Liverpool v Arsenal has seen more hat-tricks than any other fixture in BPL history (five).
Last season’s 5-1 rout at Anfield ended Liverpool’s run of six home matches without a win over the Gunners.
Arsenal have trailed in six of the last seven BPL matches against Liverpool at Anfield and come back to win two and draw three of those six where they fell behind.
Only Sergio Aguero (17) has had an involvement (goals or assists) in more top flight goals than Alexis Sanchez (14) this season.
source:premierleague.com
STUDIO 3 NEWCASTLE AUSTRALIA 