As the FA Cup third round showdown between Arsenal and Liverpool looms this Sunday, Mikel Arteta, Arsenal’s manager, seems to be drawing inspiration from a tactic employed by his Liverpool counterpart, Jürgen Klopp. This comes just a fortnight after the teams battled to a 1-1 stalemate in a Premier League match that was characterized by an electrifying atmosphere.
Arteta appears to have taken a page from Klopp’s playbook by rallying the Arsenal fans to make their presence felt during the upcoming FA Cup tie. The last time these teams met, Klopp had made a special appeal for more support from the home crowd, expressing dissatisfaction with the atmosphere during previous matches against West Ham in the Carabao Cup and Manchester United in the league. Consequently, he challenged Liverpool’s supporters to bring more energy to the games.
Echoing Klopp’s sentiments, Arteta has called on Arsenal fans to ramp up the atmosphere at Emirates Stadium during the FA Cup match. “We’re really pleased with the supportive atmosphere we’ve managed to create at the Emirates,” Arteta told journalists. “But can we make it even more intimidating? I believe so. That’s our next goal. We are immensely grateful for what we’re accomplishing at our home ground, and we expect Sunday’s game to be another thrilling one.”
This appeal comes on the heels of two consecutive losses for Arsenal — 2-0 against West Ham at home and 2-1 away at Craven Cottage. The team seems to be feeling the strain of a hectic holiday match schedule, particularly struggling with scoring goals.
Arteta acknowledged the recent performance issues, stating: “We didn’t play well enough. Although I don’t think we deserved to lose the match, we didn’t do enough to win it either.” He went on to say: “This has impacted our momentum. We were leading the league on Christmas Day, and just six days later, we are in fourth place. It’s easy to scrutinize every detail when things aren’t going well, but it’s crucial to maintain perspective and not let one poor performance affect us too much.”
Liverpool will be facing the FA Cup match without its star player Mohamed Salah, who is currently with the Egypt team for the Africa Cup of Nations. Additionally, Wataru Endō is participating in the Asia Cup with Japan, Dominik Szoboszlai is sidelined due to a hamstring injury, and both Andy Robertson and Kostas Tsmikas are out injured. This leaves Joe Gomez as the likely candidate to fill in at left-back.
Arteta is no stranger to the impact the atmosphere can have on a result. He infamously once tried to prepare his players for Anfield by pumping ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ through speakers at the training ground, to no avail. Clearly he now wants Arsenal to produce a similar sense of intimidation.
