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Liverpool have won the Premier League title ahead of Arsenal ahead of their clash at Anfield.
Mikel Arteta has insisted that Liverpool’s Premier League title defence will be made ‘very difficult’ by Arsenal.
As a result, Arsenal are now playing to finish as runners-up for a third successive season. They finished behind Manchester City in the previous two years and they have not won the Premier League since 2004.
Liverpool will be out to defend the title in the 2025-26 campaign, having last achieved that feat in 1984. Arsenal will be aiming to finally end their drought, while Manchester City are expected to come back stronger. The likes of Newcastle United and Chelsea are also set to strengthen.
Asked whether the Reds are the team to beat next term, Gunners boss Arteta replied at his pre-match press conference: “They will hold that trophy and somebody has to come and take it out of their hands. I’m sure that we’re going to have a lot of contenders and very well-prepared contenders to raise their level again and make it very difficult.”
Arteta has confirmed that Arsenal will welcome Liverpool onto the Anfield pitch by giving them a guard of honour. Chelsea did that last weekend before Arne Slot’s side’s 3-1 defeat.
Arteta added: “They deserve that. I mean, they’ve been the better team, they’ve been the most consistent, and the coaching has been fascinating, it’s been really good. And they fully deserve it. And that’s the sport. When somebody’s better, you have to applaud and accept and try to reach that level.”
Arsenal head into the Liverpool clash against the backdrop of crashing out of the Champions League semi-finals at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain. Arteta has won just one trophy since being appointed as boss in December 2019, which was the FA Cup in his first season.
It means that there is some pressure on Arteta to deliver next term but he insists that Arsenal are close to claiming silverware. He said: “We are there. Because with the amount of points that we have generated in the last few seasons, we could have two Premier Leagues. So you know how close we are.
“We are there. We are providing the numbers that win you titles. We have to be a little bit luckier or still do better [and make sure] nobody has a season better than you. What we did in the Champions League, with those numbers, you have a big probability of winning. That’s why a lot of people were thinking that we could go all the way.
“There are many factors. You need that to go your way in that decision, in that clinical moment, the ball goes to the post, out, in. That’s the fine margin. So I think what we have to try to do is to amplify the margin. The bigger the margins are, even if those things happen, then it will be very difficult for the opposition.”
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