Arsenal have not won a league game at Anfield since 2012. Mikel Arteta was in the team that day, which is the sort of fact that gets wheeled out every time this fixture comes round and has started to feel less like trivia and more like a problem. He arrives on Sunday afternoon as a title-winning manager with the reigning champions, and he arrives at a ground that has remembered how to make noise.
Five wins, and a crowd that has come back
Liverpool have lost once all season, to Manchester City on 11 October. Since then they have won five in a row in all competitions, a run they have not managed since the opening weeks of last season under Arne Slot. The performance against Villarreal was ragged, but they came from behind and the place was loud. Then came a win over a Brighton side who had been flying, and a penalty shootout against Chelsea in the Carabao Cup.
Andoni Iraola knows exactly what that is worth. "We have a big advantage over other teams because this atmosphere we can create is special," he said. For long stretches of last season Anfield was somewhere opponents went without much fear, and watching Liverpool there was a chore. That has changed in a fortnight.
There is a straightforward reason the fanbase is engaged again, beyond the results. Alexander Isak, Bradley Barcola and Florian Wirtz are all moving in the right direction. Cody Gakpo and Alexis Mac Allister are better than they were. Ronald Araujo has been adopted by the Kop already, Jeremy Jacquet has settled into the Premier League as though he has been here for years, and Iraola keeps giving minutes to Rio Ngumoha, Trey Nyoni, Lewis Koumas and James McConnell.
Rotation as a principle, not a convenience
Liverpool have made three or more changes to their starting eleven in nine consecutive games. Iraola had not coached twice a week before this job, and he is honest about the learning curve, though he points out he spent a career on the other side of it. "I had a lot as a player of when you arrive back at 3am in the morning and so on," he said. "It's more a matter of getting the decisions right, in terms of loading and freshening the legs. We are changing the team a lot from game to game and I think we will continue this approach."
Less ball, more chances
Iraola does not care much about possession for its own sake. "Whoever controls the game is whoever controls the chances," he said after the 2-0 win over Brighton, in which Liverpool had the ball for 35.6% of the playing time and went direct against a side that wanted to pass. The numbers back the shift. They are hitting 24.9 long balls a league game, up from 21 last season. High pressures in the opposition half are up to 165.9 per game from 160.1, and sprints to 128.3 from 123.2, while total distance covered has actually dipped slightly, from 111.7km to 111.1km. More intensity, less aimless running.
Virgil van Dijk put it in terms a defender would. "The 'intensity' word has been said so many times, sometimes a bit of chaos and there is this risk-reward that's going on now as well," the captain said. "If we press high, I ended up at one point almost putting Cody in one versus one on goal when I intercepted the ball on the right-hand side, when I'm a left centre-back. It's still a work in progress. Sometimes that creates some risk and it could be vulnerable, but we're working on it a lot."
Iraola turned up late to Friday's press conference because training overran, then said there has to be another level in the team. Jamie Carragher already thinks Liverpool are the main threat to Arsenal. Iraola says it is too early to look at a table. Both positions get tested at 16:30 on Sunday, with Arsenal coming off a Carabao Cup exit at the hands of League Two Fleetwood and nine points at stake in the gap either way.
Context: Liverpool have won nine and drawn three of their 13 games in all competitions under Iraola. Victory over Arsenal on Sunday (16:30 GMT) would cut the gap to three points after nine matches; defeat would leave them nine behind. Arsenal's last league win at Anfield came in 2012.
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