Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal side will soon test their early title credentials when they travel to Anfield to face Liverpool.
Liverpool haven’t lost to Arsenal at home in the Premier League since 2012, back when Brendan Rodgers was in charge.
With Vito Mannone in goal and Carl Jenkinson at right-back, Arsenal won 2-0 at Anfield under Arsene Wenger’s watch, three points that came via goals from Lukas Podolski and Santi Cazorla.
Of course, performing well at Anfield has since been an incredibly difficult feat for Arsenal, who have often been overwhelmed by the occasion.
It wasn’t so long ago that Arteta was playing ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ during an Arsenal training session – he was trying to desensitise the occasion.
Darren Bent criticises Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konate ahead of facing Arsenal
That being said, pundit Darren Bent has now spoken about Ibrahima Konate’s poor start to the season ahead of Arsenal’s visit on Sunday.
Konate has been criticised for his efforts so far this season – he’s looked like a shell of the defender he was last campaign, even if Liverpool are only three games in.
Ibrahima Konate of Liverpool applauds the fans as he warms up prior to the Premier League match between Liverpool and Bournemouth
Photo by Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
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And ahead of facing Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres, Bent claimed on talkSPORT that Konate’s form was a ‘concern’.
Bent said: “His first two performances this season, I’d be worried, because he has looked – look, I think Konate is a good defender, I really do.
“I think last season he was good, when he’s fully fit he’s sharp, he’s strong, but the first two games, his body position in terms of defending, his recovery runs, his positional play next to Virgil van Dijk, he has been all over the place, all over the place.
“I don’t know what’s happened, has he got other moves on the brain because he’s got one year left? Talk about Real Madrid and all that, he has looked nowhere near the defender we know he can be.
“So for me that’s a concern.”
Mohamed Salah has a brilliant record against Arsenal
From an Arsenal perspective, Arteta might be spending some time working out how he can prevent Mohamed Salah from hurting his side on Sunday.
Florian Wirtz has had a quiet start at Liverpool, and Salah has been below his usual standards too, but Slot’s side have still scored seven goals in two league games.
And Salah has famously loved this fixture over the years – he’s got a great record against Arsenal.
Competition Games Wins Draws Losses Goals
Premier League 16 8 6 2 11
Community Shield 1 0 0 1 0
EFL Cup 1 0 0 1 0
Mohamed Salah’s record against Arsenal.
And it’ll therefore be interesting to see whether Arteta picks either Riccardo Calafiori or Myles Lewis-Skelly to come up against the right-winger.
Arsenal might use Lewis-Skelly as a midfielder soon, but he’s certainly still on hand to play at left-back when needed.
And although Calafiori has enjoyed a strong start to the campaign, Lewis-Skelly might be the better one-on-one defender to contain Salah.