Arsenal vs Liverpol
， 描述： Match report from official website
Arsène Wenger will ask his side to draw from their new-found reserves of belief when they take to the field at Anfield on Sunday in their toughest Premier League game of the season so far.
The build-up to this game had been dominated by talk of “tests”. Arsenal’s start has been incredible — albeit without yet playing a top-four opponent - while Liverpool’s relatively pedestrian. Wenger’s men humbled Slavia Prague 7-0 on Tuesday, the next night Rafa Benitez’s side went down 2-1 in Besiktas.
Despite all that, most English bookmakers have Liverpool as favourites to win. Those odds are based on the fact that Arsenal have not been stretched too much yet — particularly away — while Liverpool have drawn too many but, like their opponents, are unbeaten domestically.
However undoubtedly Arsenal’s lossless run has been more exciting and ruthless. It has built mountains of belief so the old maxim that “nothing succeeds like success” will never have been more important than at Anfield on Sunday.
“At the start of the season, our belief was not perhaps strong enough to challenge the big teams,” said Wenger. “But this season we have built up a good belief. We are hungry and we are in good shape so we are in a good condition to go to Liverpool and show what we can do.”
It could be argued those differing Champions League results will inspire Liverpool and leave Arsenal on such a high that their feet will be firmly OFF the ground come Sunday. But Wenger argues the youth and vitality of his side will counter complacency.
“It is easy to bring them down because we have won nothing,” he said. “This team has just started. They have gone to the Champions League Final and then they had a frustrating season. We are hungry now I can tell. I have no doubts about that. We have to be faithful to the way we want to play and try to dictate our game.”
Wenger was asked whether he expected to win every time his side go on the pitch these days.
“Yes,” was the immediate reply. “But,” he added, “in fairness that was the same last year and it did not happen.
“What has changed this season is that we are less running after the score because defensively we are more efficient. Last season we were 1-0 down in 22 out of 38 games and chasing the game. If you don’t come back quickly then your risk becomes bigger because you have to counter and push further forward.
“Overall I feel we have dealt with our focus this season. To play at the top level is to know that every game has a different difficulty you have to sort out. What I like about this team is that until now they have found the solutions to the problems within the game. There has been no perfect game until now but we have found those solutions.”
On the injury front, Arsenal are still without Robin van Persie (knee) and Philippe Senderos (back). Manuel Almunia will retain the keeper's gloves and Jens Lehmann is set for a place on the bench. |
發表於 2007-10-28 10:35 AM
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