Gary Neville has challenged injury-hit Arsenal to “go and shock us” by finding a way to defeat Liverpool when the two sides meet on Super Sunday.
Arsenal face the league leaders at the Emirates without the suspended William Saliba, with Riccardo Calafiori missing and major doubts over the fitness of Takehiro Tomiyasu and Jurrien Timber, and no guarantee Bukayo Saka will be able to start.
Defeat would leave them seven points adrift at the top of the Premier League with only nine games played, a result which Paul Merson has said would end their title challenge before October is out.
But speaking on Friday Night Football, Gary Neville challenged his old rivals to put down a marker with a statement result – just as they managed against Tottenham and Man City already this season, without Martin Odegaard in both games and having seen Leandro Trossard sent off in the latter.
Addressing whether Liverpool, who have won 11 of their 12 games in all competitions under Arne Slot, are favourites for the match, Neville said Arsenal could not let outside concerns about their squad issues affect their mentality – and must keep the belief they are strong enough to win.
“That’s been the sort of narrative this week, hasn’t it?,” he said. “Arsenal aren’t contributing to that. Mikel Arteta or his coaching staff or the players, but they can’t let that noise get into their heads. They have to really think about going out there on Sunday and winning. Can Arsenal afford to see Liverpool seven points clear of them at 6.30 on Sunday evening? They just can’t.
“That’s not because they can’t get that back over a season, but we’re talking about a team that are trying to make that final step to win a league. And I think if you’ve got three or four players missing, this would be the best time for them to go and win on Sunday. The best time to go and shock everybody.
“It would be, not a surprise Arsenal winning, but because of the players that are out there is something building that, ‘oh, Liverpool are favourites’. Go and shock us, go and do something, go and play, and get within one point of Liverpool and all of a sudden things change again.
“So that’s for me where I think the game is for Arsenal. For Liverpool, they can afford to just let the crowd get a little bit nervy and sit back for 25 to 30 minutes because they’re good defensively and see what Arsenal do.”
Jamie Carragher questioned whether a number of players who had been absent from training may yet feature this weekend, after Arteta was coy over their availability in his pre-match press conference on Friday.
“Gary’s right, we’ve all been there as players when some of your best players [are out],” he said. “You’ve got to fight and they’re going to probably need the crowd as well to maybe try and get them over the line.
“I saw on Sky Sports News it was saying five or six players hadn’t trained, but I’m not falling for it. They’re definitely in the gym and then they come out when the camera’s gone. I’ve seen all that one before. I’m not falling for it so hopefully Arne Slot and the Liverpool team are not falling for that as well.”
Carra: This game is bigger for Arsenal than Liverpool
If Arsenal are feeling the pressure, it might be because Sunday’s game is more important to the Gunners than Liverpool given their respective positions, according to Carragher.
Should Manchester City beat winless Southampton on Saturday afternoon, anything but victory would leave them at least five points behind the perennial Premier League winners – and with trips to Newcastle and Chelsea to face in the coming weeks.
Carragher said: “Would you go as far to say Arsenal can’t afford to lose in some ways? You talk about Liverpool going seven points clear, I think the bigger worry for Arsenal would be that Manchester City would be six points in front of them.
“They’ve got Southampton at home tomorrow so going into that game, they’d be six points behind and then you’re playing Liverpool. If you lose that game, I think the bigger worry would be six points to Manchester City.
“When you’re talking about a league season, trying to finish above Man City and knowing the points total that you’re going to need after 38 games, there’ll be 29 games left and you could be six points behind. So it’s a 29-game season and you’re six points behind Man City. That’s a mountain to climb.”