Arsenal face Liverpool in the Premier League on Thursday night
08:00, 08 Jan 2026
Arne Slot with Mikel Arteta
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Arne Slot with Mikel Arteta
Mikel Arteta has sympathised with struggling Premier League champions Liverpool despite their gigantic summer spending spree - and insisted that almost everything must be “perfect” to win a title.
The Reds would have hoped to be heading to north London with a chance of claiming a title boost of their own, but instead, victory would close the gap to 11 points.
Arteta was full of praise for Liverpool and Arne Slot, perhaps unsurprisingly, in spite of the rivalry that has opened between the two clubs.
“Well, the margins I think for all of us are really small, we always talk about that,” Arteta said. “They have a great manager, they have a sensational structure.
“Understanding what they have to do in relation to the players that they select on the line, and they can play in different ways. Because at the end, those will make them a little bit different and more specific to what we can expect tomorrow, and we have to be conscious of that and then focus on what we have to do.”
Reigning champions Liverpool invested over £400million in the summer on players, but Slot has been unable to lift the overall performance and as a result, his side have slumped.
Arteta was asked how surprised he was by how far behind the Gunners Liverpool sit, considering what was spent on the team. “I don’t know,” he replied. “But I think the previous year they didn’t spend much and they managed to win the Premier League.
“That’s football, and that’s the reality of that. At the end, you need a lot of things to go your way to be champions, and almost everything has to be perfect.
“The moment you have issues around the squad or with players injured or whatever it is, then it is not that perfect. We all have gone through those stages, and we go through those stages throughout the season, and we have to navigate through that”
Yet when asked whether Liverpool’s season was an example that underlined major investment does not necessarily guarantee further success, Arteta appeared to suggest the sample size might be too small right now, and in the long term, that spending will catalyse success.
“Well, there are a lot of stories - especially when you talk about the level of wages that you spend on the squad and the level of players that you have,” he said.
“Over a certain period of time, you are going to be very successful. That’s the history of the Premier League. It is not something that I am saying that has happened time after time in this league over the years.”
In spite of Liverpool’s form, Arsenal were beaten at Anfield and the result sparked questions of Arteta’s approach. Five months on, Arteta explained that he understands that different opinions exist and argued that if those on the outside were privy to the information, data and understanding available to him, those opinions might be different.
“People can have different opinions and understand why we decide certain things or pick certain players as well. But we know. But we know their physical state, probably more, because nobody asked me.
“Is there a place available to start? Nobody asked. People assume that. We have all the information. You guys don't, and it's normal, and we don't want to provide that either.
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“So normally with the information that you have, you have to make the judgment that, in your opinion, was the best case to win the game. That has to be accepted.”
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