'Wounded' Arsenal's objective is clear before Liverpool clash as Mikel Arteta sets new challenge | OneFootball

Anfield has not been a happy hunting ground for Gunners in recent years, but they are in need of a positive result this afternoon

Since then, Liverpool has become an unhappy hunting ground for the Gunners, other than in October 2020 when they won a Carabao Cup clash there on penalties.

With the title secured, Liverpool’s final three games are essentially one big celebration party and Arsenal will follow Chelsea’s lead last week of giving them a guard of honour.

Liverpool fans will take some joy in that and they will have also, surely, taken note of Arteta’s comments earlier this week.

The Spaniard said how “Liverpool have won the title with less points than we have in the last two seasons”, which is unlikely to have gone down well on Merseyside.

It should add to the atmosphere on Sunday, even if Arne Slot has admitted the game may lack its usual edge.

Slot is expected to have a degree of rotation in his side, with Conor Bradley due to start at right-back as he prepares for next season and replacing Trent Alexander Arnold.

“He (Bradley) needs playing time to be better prepared for next season,” said Slot.

“Unfortunately he hasn’t been fit all season and to become a very good player you have to be available and fit every week. That’s the next step, but we have a lot of confidence in him as a very good full-back for Liverpool."

Arsenal will give Liverpool a guard of honour before kick-off at Anfield

POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Arteta cannot afford to be as relaxed with his team selection, even if OPTA put Arsenal’s chances of qualifying for next season’s Champions League at 99.2 per cent.

The Gunners will be worried about relinquishing second place after spending the season chasing Liverpool.

Finishing third in a two-horse race is not a good look, even if Arsenal have had the obvious distraction of a run to the semi-finals of the Champions League.

Arteta’s side need to finish the campaign strongly and hold off Manchester City to send the right message going into the summer.

It has been a difficult season for Arsenal, one riddled with injuries, but after so much effort they do not want to end it on a damp squib.

“When we get so close to winning big trophies and you don’t achieve it, it has to be part of that journey,” said Arteta. “We have to be able now to go immediately into a different competition and perform at the highest level, that's it.”

Anfield has always been a place that has a hold over Arteta, primarily due to the atmosphere there.

He famously had speakers by the side of the training pitch years ago and played ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ as his squad trained.

We have to be able now to go immediately into a different competition and perform at the highest level, that's it

Mikel Arteta

The worry for Arteta will be that his side head there on Sunday as a wounded animal. He admitted there were tears in the dressing room after the loss to Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday.

The challenge for Arsenal is to dust themselves down quickly, but that will prove hard after a night like the one in Paris.

Arteta’s players looked emotionally and physically drained after a Champions League run that had promised so much came to an end.

Their race in the Premier League, however, is not quite run and Arsenal must ensure they sprint over the line instead of stumbling over it.

“It’s about this season, it’s about the amount of points that are still available to win at the end, and finishing in the position that we want and we have to do that,” said Arteta.