23 December 2023 , 10:38
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Arsenal and trips to Anfield are not a combination that those from north London have enjoyed over the past decade.
In fact it has been just over 11 years since the Gunners secured a 2-0 success on Merseyside with Santi Cazorla and Lukas Podolski getting on the scoresheet for Arsene Wenger's men. Since then they've not only lost with regularity, but they've often been humbled.
Results at Anfield over the past decade include 4-1, a 5-1 and 4-0 defeats. Each time Liverpool blew Arsenal away with the Gunners having little to no answer. Mikel Arteta was present for some of those losses as a player and attempted to end their horrid run in 2021 by employing a rogue tactic.
Much is made of the intimidating Anfield atmosphere and the Gunners boss wanted to make sure his players were prepared. As a result, in the lead up to their clash in November 2021, the Spaniard played Liverpool chants over a speaker whilst his players trained.
At their London Colney base 'You'll Never Walk Alone' bellowed out and Arteta screamed: "Boys! Mentality, we start to play the game now! Okay, we are at Anfield. Let's go." He told one of his staff beforehand that this was one of his "crazy ideas" but explained the method behind his madness, insisting Anfield was the only stadium in which he felt overwhelmed.
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He told Amazon Prime Video: "The game was going there and suddenly I could only see red shirts flying around. The game is passing all over me and I cannot react. People think 'what is he doing' and I'm like 'I cannot do it'. Emotionally, physically, I cannot cope. Everything goes too fast. I only had that feeling in my career once and it was at Anfield."
Mikel Arteta got his Arsenal players to train with the backdrop of Anfield chants (AMAZON PRIME VIDEO)Arteta's idea divided opinion but if he wanted it to be judged on its success, then it was a catastrophic failure. Arsenal were in the midst of rebuilding their season after a slow start and went to Liverpool with an unbeaten run of eight games, winning six of those.
Jurgen Klopp's side though dealt them a tough lesson, securing a 4-0 success at their home fortress. Sadio Mane opened the scoring before half-time with Diogo Jota, Mohamed Salah and Takumi Minamino also getting in on the act in the second 45.
Last season the Arsenal boss must've thought he'd ended the hoodoo however when his side took a 2-0 lead in the first-half, all whilst playing the hosts off the park. Salah got one back to give Liverpool hope before later missing a penalty. But then, with three minutes left, Roberto Firmino headed home the equaliser to leave Arsenal waiting for a precious three points at Anfield.