Arteta vows to end Arsenal's 13-year Premier League drought at Anfield

Mikel Arteta has declared Arsenal ready to end a 13-year Premier League winless run at Anfield, with the Gunners returning to Merseyside as defending champions seeking a first top-flight victory there since September 2012. Liverpool are unbeaten in their last 13 Premier League home fixtures against Arsenal, a sequence that has haunted Arteta’s tenure.

Arteta, who was himself playing in midfield the last time Arsenal silenced Anfield, is drawing on that experience as he prepares his side. His previous attempts to neutralise the famous atmosphere have not always gone to plan — in November 2021 he had speakers blasting out You’ll Never Walk Alone next to Arsenal’s training pitch before the match, only for his side to be thumped 4-0. Asked about that episode on Friday, Arteta was wry: “That was many years ago, eh?”

Emotion has been a recurring theme in Arsenal’s recent visits to Anfield. A touchline confrontation with Jurgen Klopp in 2021 appeared to galvanise the home crowd, while Granit Xhaka’s heated exchange with Trent Alexander-Arnold helped spark Liverpool’s comeback from 2-0 down to draw in April 2023. Arteta acknowledged those incidents have cost his team: “Yeah, we believe that this had a bad effect on the team. So yes, whatever is good for the team, we will try to do that as much as possible.”

The Arsenal manager’s sideline behaviour remains a talking point. He picked up his second caution of the season against Everton for repeatedly leaving his technical area, yet he shows little sign of reining himself in. “I don’t do it consciously, otherwise I would not do it,” he said. “I’m just trying to help my team, try to help the players as much as possible to win the match. The perception will depend on which parts you carry in your heart probably.”

Arsenal arrive at Anfield with added motivation after Tuesday’s Carabao Cup fourth-round defeat at League Two side Fleetwood Town, a result that stung the club. Arteta was clear that the setback has not altered his ambitions for the weekend. “After midweek, the thing that I want at Anfield is winning as well. It doesn’t take anything different to that. You have to swallow some pain that’s different, but objectively it remains the same.”

Last season’s meeting at Anfield ended in a 2-0 Liverpool win, settled by Dominic Szoboszlai’s late free-kick, with a banner on the Kop reading “Always the bridesmaids, never the bride” directed at the visitors. Arsenal return this time with a league title to their name — and, according to their manager, a renewed belief that the long wait at Anfield is finally over.